


Hold You Down

by Evans_Anna_99



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: varchie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-05-11
Packaged: 2019-05-01 05:54:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 40,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14513970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evans_Anna_99/pseuds/Evans_Anna_99
Summary: Sad/Real/Emotional, slow-burn of Archie and Veronica's relationship. Set at some point in their senior year at Riverdale High. They're relationship is heavily tested. Mature for language, mentions of drugs and alcohol use, and sexual references. LOVE VARCHIE & Don't worry, it's them against the world ;)___ SPOILER_____The story will be told back and forth through flashbacks/memories and current conversation between Varchie. Archie and Veronica have been together for a while now, and they're both unwilling to let go of each other, but the mistake Veronica makes starts to trigger parts of her old self (NYC V). Will Archie be able to pull her out of her own self destruction, or will she pull them both under?





	1. Broken Hearts

It’s not even noon yet, and they’ve had sex several times already.

Archie was thrilled at first, but quickly recognized his girlfriends avoidance tactics, as they were all too familiar to him now. 

He decided to probe while she was eating her lunch. 

“So… not that I’m complaining about this morning, but I’m on to you, you’re hiding something” he asked trying to sound as harmless as possible while getting to the point.

Getting to the point was something Veronica had taught him to do, it’s helped him cut his indecisiveness rambling in half. He can tell she’s nervous by the way she avoids making eye contact, suddenly Archie’s stomach is in knots as he anxiously anticipates his girlfriend’s response. 

“Arch, I’m not hiding anything” she says smiling, hoping to throw him off of his scent. 

She knows it’s not working by his facial expression, Veronica takes an ample sized bite of her salad in order to buy herself some time and come up with better excuses.

“Ronnie, you know that you can tell me anything, right? I mean we’ve been through so much, it’s us against the world” she smiles because he’s the kind of boyfriend who is attentive, Archie always remembered the small conversations they’ve had, this had always secretly impressed her.

Veronica looks at her wonderful boyfriend and her heart breaks because she knows she’s about to break his, but at this point she’s fully aware that she has to come clean.  
She had done something unforgivable and here she was prepared to beg for his forgiveness and understanding, even though she was prideful and stubborn by nature, Veronica was ready to get on her knees and beg him not to leave her.

Leave. Her. She repeated those words in her head in panic.

Archie was most definitely going to break up with her, and then she would truly be alone. 

He’s been staring at her, watching her deep in thought, Archie knows she’s conflicted about revealing whatever it is that has been bothering her, “Veronica” he says more seriously now, taking her hand and forcing some eye contact.

She looks at him again and can’t control the tears welling up around her eyes, “Hey, come here” he says attempting to pull her into a hug, but she doesn’t budge because she feels guilty accepting his comfort when seconds from now he will hate her.

“Archie…” she tries again trailing off, Veronica is unable to to say anything further. 

“What is it Ronnie, just tell me? Please, your starting to scare me” he says hoping that will prompt a response.   
And it does.

“I made a mistake” is all she can get out and suddenly she’s full on crying.

Archie quickly moves towards her to wrap her into his embrace, the sadness and fear in her voice are killing him.

“Whatever it is, we can fix it ok? I promise I will help you” He looks at her hoping that was the right thing to say, but somehow she only looks sadder.

When she can finally see again, her vision still blurry from the tears her raspy voice whispers “I’m so sorry” almost inaudibly.

Archie looks at her still in utter confusion, “You don’t have to be sorry, just breathe” he says.

So she does, taking a deep breath and exhaling elegantly.

Veronica looks down for what feels like an eternity, finally she mumbles in the smallest and guiltiest voice “I cheated on you”.

Silence fills the room, she’s afraid to look up, but also desperately needs to see his reaction.

Archie is shocked, his facial expression is telling. 

This is not what he was expecting, and before he even has time to process this information, Veronica is crying even harder then moments ago, repeatedly pleading with him to forgive her.  
“I’m so sorry, Archie… I’m sorry, I love you….I love you so much” she continues hoping that he’ll say something.

But Archie is speechless, he feels as though the air has been knocked out of his lungs, his ability to process anything since she uttered that condemning sentence has come to a holt.   
Veronica looks at Archie’s expression trying to read him, but his face is still stuck in a state of shock, “please say something” Veronica pleads.

“I..” he stammers, she reaches out to stroke his arm, but Archie recoils at her fingers making contact with his upper arm.

Her touch brings him back into reality, he is flooded with emotions; betrayal, anger, sadness, Archie hangs his head down in defeat and starts to cry as well.

The love of his life has just shattered his heart into a million pieces, and even though he wants to hate her, because no one has ever hurt him so badly, he also isn’t ready to give her up.

Every thought in his head becomes conflicted, and finally as if his brain had shut off in order to protect himself from the sensitive information it was receiving.

Veronica stares at her boyfriend’s lost expression, uncertain of whether or not she should continue apologizing or just wait, she decides upon the latter. 

Minutes later Archie's thoughts started rushing back to him, provoking so many questions she had left unanswered.

“Who?” he says angrily, not really having the time to filter his aggression.

She looks at him saddened, and even more terrified to tell him the answer to this question then the initial confession.

Archie prepares himself for the worst, closing his eyes when he sees her opening her mouth, the moment of anticipation wearing at him.

“Reggie” he hears his friend’s name coming out of her mouth and immediately feels nauseous.

Images of Veronica and Reggie start to fill his mind, thinking about what a fuckboy Reggie has always been.

“Arch, it was the BIGGEST mistake I’ve ever made, I was drunk, mad and lonely, and I’m so sorry that’s no excuse, but I promise you it meant nothing…. I instantly felt regret after…” she trails off.  
Archie looks up at her with a pained expression, he opens his mouth knowing he needed to ask, but also knowing he didn’t want to hear the answer.

“After what…?” he says sadly, “Did you..sleep with him?”, Veronica’s face answers his question immediately, she looks guiltier than a whore in church.

Archie feels sick, thinking about Reggie’s hands all over her body, or worse her reciprocating those touches.

Veronica looks at him, through her crying she’s still pleading, and hoping that he will find someway to forgive her, but with every passing minute she’s realizing that his silence is telling of his lack of desire to forgive.

Archie can’t bare to look at her at this point, he started thinking about the 'when, where, and why', now that the ‘who’ and ‘what’ had been answered, but he couldn’t bring himself to question further, because deep down, he knew why, and probably when, thinking about the ‘where’, Archie started picturing Reggie all over Veronica, and her bed, his scent and sweat on her sheets, the same sheets they’d slept in since then. 

Archie was mentally kicking himself for jumping to any conclusions about the whereabouts as they were only making him feel worse, but what else could he think about? She cheated. She ruined them, and broke both of their hearts, these thoughts feed Archie’s anger. 

And the more he pictured Veronica and Reggie fucking, the more frustrated he got, he wanted to if she had enjoyed it, was she lying about regretting it?, was it something she had wanted to do or did it truly just happened, did Reggie even have the decency to use a condom? Archie couldn’t understand why he couldn’t stop imagining them together, he could feel the bile rising up his throat, swallowing hard. 

They had just had sex over and over again this morning, but now knowing that she was capable of this, and worse of lying about it, he couldn’t stomach it. Just knowing that Reggie had been inside her, and touched and kissed her the way only he was suppose to was pushing him further over the edge.

Archie breathed deeply in an attempt to relieve his nausea, but his stomach was clearly not processing this information well either. 

“Archie…” Veronica tried again, he barely glanced at her before quickly darting his face down and vomiting.

The entire content of his stomach came out of his mouth between gasps for air, into his lap and all over his t-shirt.

After he caught his breath, Archie momentarily felt relief, until the situation set in again.

He was pathetic, sitting there covered in his own vomit, watching Veronica try to help him clean up with a paper towel.

Handing him a glass of water and accidentally brushing up against him, for a moment he forgets that anything has happened and just thinks about how beautiful she is, and then like a storm cloud raining on his parade, all of those images come flooding back and Archie’s anger is reignited.

“Leave” he says, it comes out monotone and unconvincing, partly because he knows he doesn’t mean it, but mostly because he’s terrified that she actually will.


	2. Hopeless

"Leave", she hears him, he knows it, because there's a pained expression on her face, but he can tell she's hesitant to move. For some fucked up reason, he's relieved she's not leaving. 

Closing his eyes, Archie uselessly wishes that it wasn't true, or worse that he never found out. He feels her cleaning his face, and tugging at the hem of his shirt, "we need to take this off" she says quietly, afraid that he'll flinch at her touch again, or worse, insist that she should leave immediately.

But Archie doesn't have the energy to keep up the lie, he doesn't want her to leave, but he won't admit it either. He slowly nods, then lifts each arm as she carefully pulls the shirt over his body and head, perfectly removing it without getting any more vomit on him. Even though he feels beyond betrayed and gutted by his girlfriend, he's silently thankfully that she's taking care of him now. He knew it was stupid to rely on her and make her feel needed, but he was too weak in the moment to be stubborn or angry. 

Veronica watched her boyfriend, she wondered if by tomorrow they'd still be together, and that thought made her tear up again.

She took a sharp breath, causing Archie to focus on her briefly, before hanging his head back down, and slowly bringing the glass of water from the table to his mouth, still keeping his eyes glued to the floor. 

She hated herself sleeping with Reggie and mostly for hurting Archie, Veronica's whole body was tense, she tried to push away the guilt and take care of Archie while he was still willing to accept the help. She selfishly needed to be close to him, even if she could see the disgust in his eyes.

"Do you think your ready to go to the bathroom?" she asked awkwardly, not knowing what to say, Veronica was walking on eggshells, afraid of saying the wrong thing and setting him off. She was waiting for the second shoe to drop, since he had vomited, Archie had barely spoken, it was only a matter of time until he would start to feel better, and less apathetic to her presence. Veronica was well aware that as soon as the nausea and initial shock wore off, that Archie would not be this calm, or zombie like. 

There will be yelling, and crying, that she knew, but Veronica was terrified of the outcome. After the fighting, and apologizing, what would be left? she wondered silently as she continued to stare at Archie.

He still hadn't responded or made any movement, "Archie" she said again, still quietly, but slightly needier sounding this time.He looked up at her, and nodded sadly.Holding her hands out, he slowly took them, and used the support to pull himself up, his legs felt like jello at first but like a reflex, he started to walk to the bathroom upstairs, moving awkwardly with a wet crotch and vomit stained socks.

Veronica was relieved that he was being compliant, but also saddened by his ghost like appearance, she felt the impact of her mistake, sadness was radiating off of the person next to her, and her heart physically hurt knowing that she had caused it.

Once they finally made it to the bathroom, Ronnie awkwardly followed him in, unsure of the new boundaries. 

He didn't protest, still looking exhausted.Archie slowly started pulling his jeans off, as Veronica starting the shower for him.

When she turned around, he was in his boxers, she could tell this was as far as he would let her in for now, Archie was clearly not willing to be naked in front of her anymore, not physically or emotionally.Veronica leaned down to pick up his dirty pants and socks, "I'm going to go put this in the wash, maybe when you're done we could talk?" she asks terrified. Archie just looks at her defeated and nods, "thanks" is all he can come up with.

Once he hears the door shut, he pulls of his boxers and gets into the shower, the water is slightly hotter than he's used to, but it reminds him of the showers he's taken with Ronnie. The water is always burning, and somehow she's always complaining that she's cold, even though he lets her hog the water. 

Archie gets caught up in his reverie, everything else has faded out of the forefront of his mind, and he's lost thinking about Veronica's naked body, covered in droplets of water and foamy shampoo. He vividly pictures them knocking over the trillion bottles of various expensive hair products in her huge glass shower in the Pembrooke. 

Even if it's only in his imagination, picturing Veronica laugh makes him smile.It doesn't last though, he's back to wondering about his girlfriend and his so-called 'bro'.Why did it have to be Reggie? He thinks to himself, as if there wasn't enough competition and testosterone between them. 

Now Reggie had finally taken the only upper hand Archie had ever held, what's worse is that she let him, knowing that it would kill me. 

He starts to get upset, his cheeks flushing with anger as he scrubs his body harshly with body wash, not caring about the various bruises and cuts he has on his body from yesterday's football practice in the rain.Finally, the heat and steam become unbearable, and he abruptly turns off the shower, and steps out slightly light headed. 

Opening the curtain, he pushes the hair out of his face, and grabs a towel to dry off.As soon as Archie steps out of the bathroom, the cold hard wood floors and fresh cool air help him regain his stability. 

His wet feet padder down to his room, signalling to Veronica that he's finished with his shower.She's still downstairs, the laundry has been started, but she felt as though she needed to stay downstairs, Veronica felt unwelcome upstairs, especially in his bedroom, surrounded by memories of their relationship and intimate moments shared.

She knew, she'd truly loose it if she went into his room, so she stayed glued to the couch in the living room, where they had technically started their relationship when they naively, drunkenly made out the night of Jughead's surprise party failure, before anything had become complicated. Archie was in his room, pacing around, taking a while to get dressed, because he was avoiding facing her downstairs. 

Once he was dressed, he sat on his bed for a moment trying to plan out what he would say, but his thoughts were jumbled, and he anxiously rose from the bed, deciding that he couldn't bare this limbo anymore. 

He was also aware, that this conversation would most likely end badly, and that stepping out of his room would be something he regretted. 

Archie stood down the stairs and into the living room, there she was, looking so small and broken. He wanted to hold her, but couldn't bring himself to actually do it, out of spite and anger, he couldn't bring himself to take away her suffering right now. 

Archie slowly made his way over to her, sitting down on the couch next to her, yet leaving a big enough space, that screamed 'You've betray me' to Veronica as she noticed his hesitation to move any closer.

She couldn't bare the silence anymore, so she broke it, "I want to take it back" she says.

Veronica is angry with herself, for wanted to tell him so many things, how sorry she was, and how insecure she felt in her relationship that night, and that she'll never forgive herself, that the pain he feels makes her pain even worse, that the guilt she's been caring around has prevented her from eating or sleeping, or worse that she was able to lie to him for almost an entire week. 

As sick as it sounded, the only time she could stop torturing herself about what she had done with Reggie was when she was around Archie. 

Veronica was aware of how fucked up that came off, but he was her security, and now it felt as though she had lost that. 

Tears started falling down her cheeks."I hate myself, I feel disgusting, and I do not deserve you to forgive me, but please.." Veronica couldn't help but let out a big sob, "Please don't break up with me".

Veronica swallows her pride, and buries the voice in her head telling her that she's become pathetic. She moves closer to him, slowly and unsurely reaching out for his face, he flinches slightly at first, and she can't deny that it hurts.

But eventually he turns his face allowing her hands to rest on the sides of his jawline, he knows that his eyes are full of water, but he's still trying his best not to cry anymore, especially in front of her.

She stares at him so deeply, and he's brought into a trance, staring back at her.

"I love you" she says, "please don't leave me" she begs this time, "I don't think I can live without you".

'I don't think I can live without you' echoes in Archie's head, he feels it too, that no matter how badly she hurts him, he can't give her up, because then there would be no point of living, it sounds toxic and depressing, he knows it. 

He slowly leans his head into the crook of her neck, and Veronica instinctively wraps her arms around him, feeling the sobs over take him, and his tears running down her chests.

Archie's sobbing is causing them both to shake, "I want to hate you" he finally speaks up, and she's heartbroken at his admission, but also slightly hopeful.

"You have to tell me everything" he looks up at her, freeing himself from her hold.

He tells himself that hearing every detail about his girlfriend fucking one of his best friends is going to help him hate her, so that maybe he won't feel so sad, or pathetic, and just maybe he'll break up with her, in order to hurt her like she had done to him, Archie thinks mostly out of spite.

He can't believe this feeling, it hurts him to be around her, she feels like a stranger all of a sudden, but the moment she moves away from him, allowing him to sit back up, Archie craves her soft touch, her sophisticated scent and her general familiarity. Veronica swallows hard, not even knowing where to begin, so she just nods and looks down at her lap in shame.

From the moment he found out, Archie, although often clueless, was pretty certain this was the result of the fight they had last Friday morning, which lasted throughout the day, and was brought to a boiling point after the game at Moose's kegger. 

Archie shut his eyes because looking into hers was too painful, and he was instantly brought back into the awful memory of that night.


	3. Guilt

_Archie was staring at his girlfriend from across Moose's living room. But quickly his thoughts of the party were replaced by other memories._ _This decently big room, he had become familiar with when he had met Moose in the second grade, connecting immediately through the mutual love of sports. They had spent hours at each other's houses' growing up playing various video games, sports in the yard, and even trying pot for the first time._

_Of course, now that he looks back on those memories, he's aware that Reggie was often present in those memories as well. Moose and Reggie were best friends, and although Archie had primarily hung out with Betty and Jughead as a kid, he also remembers his more boyish side that was freed when he hung out with Moose and Reggie._ _Reggie had always taken things to far, and been a bad influence, but in Archie's mind he had alway meant well, and those risky situation caused by Reggie somehow proved to be more fun than most nights a Pop's. Reggie was definitely an escape, and now thinking about it, so was Veronica, they shared similar traits._

_They were both....wild. Archie shook his head in sadness thinking about how inevitable them sleeping together seemed. He always thought, that if Veronica ever dumped him, it would surely be for Reggie._

_Archie knew something about Reggie that most people didn't, which was that he was a hurt little boy deep down. All of his male bravado, and excessive man-whoring, was to cover up the deep insecurity he had developed when his father had left in the fourth grade._ _Reggie's world had been flipped upside down, and all he could think about was that he wasn't good enough, not for his father, and certainly not for anyone else._

He looked at Veronica, she carried a nervous expression waiting for him to finally speak. Veronica was anxious, shifting awkwardly, her body was becoming hot, but she was cold and shivering on the outside, she could only equate this sickly feeling to back when she had a fever in December.

Still shaking, she hears Archie clear his throat fragilely, he barely makes a noise."Why Reggie?" he asks her, his voice full of jealousy and heartache."I was anger and hurt, and very very drunk, Reggie was just there..." she trailed off hoping that she had made it believable.

"Your lying!" he erupted, she had triggered his anger, "I told you to tell me everything... not the half truth!" he said even louder accusingly.

How am I ever suppose to trust her again, he thought to himself.What was he going to do when they weren't together, would he be constantly worrying about her, who she was texting, was sleeping with Reggie really an accident? Archie couldn't convince himself of that, because he knew Ronnie was calculated, but also impulsive, especially when angry.

He knew that he had hurt her that day, not to mention that his out burst at the party humiliated her in front of everyone. The harder he thought, the more Archie began to realize that she was probably planning her pay back from the moment he stormed out of the party.

But was it always Reggie? How calculated could she have been in her state of god knows what.

Archie hated when Veronica allowed herself to loose control, this was often in the form of various drugs and alcohol, he knew she loved her pills and cocaine in New York, he had also come to find out that she had spent her whole summer before arriving in Riverdale seeing a drug rehabilitation councillor, a therapist, a psychiatrist, and had a sobriety coach with her at all times.

To some the change in her attitude, is suspicious, but she had worked really hard to better herself, to pull the goodness to the surface, after hitting rock bottom.

She was heartbroken when her father was taken away, and worse when the truths about his shady business dealings, and criminal-mob like involvement came out, Veronica couldn't deal with being inside her mind anymore, she became dependent on anything to get her high, to get her father off of her mind. 

This habit kept up until Hermione became suspicious of her strung out daughter, and searched through her room. Finding an assortment of molly, coke, xanax, adderall, oxy's, and other forms of opioids.

In a panic, she had her daughter sent to a intensive 2 week rehabilitation center, which Veronica is now thankful for.

Although she's had many slip ups, I can tell that her drug use in Riverdale has been prompted more by boredom than emotional instability, that was true until Friday. Archie is brought out of his thoughts, when she mumbles something sadly, and his anger starts to subside.

"I knew it would hurt" she says, and he barely hears her, "...and that Reggie would get to you most, because of the way things are between you two..." she trails off, shocked that she's admitting it.

Archie looks at angrily again, a bitter taste forming in his mouth, she can tell that he feels nauseous again, and silently prays that his stomach had been emptied the first time, for his sake, because he already seems so weak and broken. On the other hand, Veronica also thinks about how much of a blessing his tiredness has been, because he hasn't kicked her out yet.

Veronica looks down, and prays that she'll be the one cleaning up his vomit forever, helping him on the sick days, or with his sport injuries, because he's so sweet and thankful when he's down, and because there's no better feeling in the world than feeling needed by Archie Andrews. She's crying again, and repeatedly apologizing, "I'm sorry Archie, I fucked up so badly, I've done so many things that I regret, but this is by far the worst thing I have ever done... to the one person I love most" she sys almost in a whisper by the end because she's saying it out loud for the first time and it feels disgustingly shameful.

"I hate myself" she continues to cry, and fill the silence with admissions of regret and sorrow, in hopes that Archie would comfort her, even though she was undeserving of his sympathy."Was it good" Archie cuts her off, not wanting to let her in, and knowing that if she continued to cry, it would wear him down.

Veronica looks at him in shock, "what?" she says sadly, even though she fully understood, she was hoping that he wouldn't make her answer that.

"I said, was it good?, WAS FUCKING REGGIE SATISFYING FOR YOU? DID YOU CUM? I sure as hell know that he did, DID YOU EVEN USE A FUCKING CONDOM, or did you just let him fuck you with his bare dick, that has been inside every other girl in this town by the way" his angry rambles are cut off by Veronica's now also loud tone "I DIDN'T WANT HIM", her admission seemed to have settled him down a bit.

"I wanted to hurt you, but as soon as I felt Reggie, all I could think about is how he wasn't you, that all I wanted was you, Archie" she says lovingly, tears still running down her face from his yelling seconds ago.

"The only reason I kept going, is because I'm filled with stupid pride, and I'm fucking stubborn, Ok? I convinced myself that if I admitted I wanted after everything you had said to me, that people would think I was pathetic" she says, Veronica feels Archie letting go of the tension in his body, he's looking at her sadly now, and there's a hint of guilt behind his eyes that he wears more openly now, as if he's trying to apologize for his part in this whole mess, but can't quite force the words out of his mouth.

Once again, he's brought out of his train of thought by the sound of his girlfriends voice, "I don't care about being pathetic anymore, not if it means loosing you... I am begging you not to break up with me, I know I can't ask you to forgive me right now, but please don't give up on the last two years because I fucked up, I want to fix it... please Archie" she's now positioned herself between his legs, kneeling on the floor, while he's still seated on the couch.

She reaches her arms around his neck and pulls him into a tight hug, she's acting boldly out of fear.She whispers that she's sorry over and over again, crying into him, pleading for him to not dump her, until after a few minutes, Archie's arms wrap around her as well, and he pulls her in even tighter, resting his head on her shoulder.

At this point, he is too emotionally exhausted to keep crying, or questioning.

Although it sounds utterly weak, all he wants to do is lay next to her and hold her closely as he drifts into a hopefully heavy sleep.

"I'm tired, Ronnie" he says, and she nods against him, slowly peeling herself off of him, she sits back onto the floor in front of him.

"Me too" she says, and for the first time today, he truly feels how broken she is and looks.

There are deep blue rings under her deeply red eyes, her cheeks are tear and mascara stained, her body looks smaller and he mentality hates himself for not noticing sooner.

Veronica looks weak, warned down and afraid.

He grabs her hands this time, pulling her up, and leading her upstairs with one hand.

They both quietly enter his bedroom, both of them too afraid to say anything that may ruin this moment of peace.

He pulls off his pants, and she removes her skirt.

"Here, wear this" he holds out the shirt he has just taken off of his body.

She gladly puts it on, even if it's his way of being possessive, she loves the way it smells like her freshly showered boyfriend, his 2 in 1 shampoo and body wash that normally he can't stand, is suddenly providing her comfort.

Awkwardly she looks at him, before pulling her tank top over her head, she shouldn't feel this worried or shameful about him seeing her in her underwear, considering they spend enough time in the nude.

However, she couldn't help but mentally acknowledge that things between them felt uneasy.

Quickly she slipped his t-shirt on over her body, and moved cautiously to join Archie in his bed, where he had gotten into seconds ago.

She looks at him with hesitation, like a child who knows she's doing something wrong.

Archie forces the smallest smile, it's mixed with sadness too, as he reaches out for her.

Veronica gets into his bed and under the covers and relaxed a tiny bit, when she feels his big arms envelope her small frame, initially laying on her side, she turns around to face him.Archie wears a blank expression, consumed by his body's desire for sleep, but unable to drift off as his mind is racing with thoughts.

"I love you" she says, he just stares at her and slightly nods trying to tell her that despite how much it hurt, he still loved her as well.

After endless stirring and repositioning, Archie managed to fall asleep.

Veronica on the other hand was well aware of that fact that she would not be getting any sleep.

The guilt was consuming her, every single thought in her mind became negative, as she started to feed the self-hatred that lurked deep inside of her.

For the first time in awhile, she thinks about how nice it would be to get high out of her mind, and fall into a endless sleep, forgetting about everything she's done and caused.

That thought fills her with disgust, but she can't seem to shake the desire for any sort of pharmaceutical cocktail she could scavenge.

Thoughts of Fed's pain meds surface, as well as the various anti-anxieties her mom uses to induce sleep, although those have been hidden from her, Veronica knows that she could find them if she tried hard enough, she also think about Betty's study buddies and how she could easily steal a couple the next time she's next door at the Cooper's, and the final sickening thought she has, is Reggie.

Reggie was her plug in Riverdale, and he certainly provided a healthy amount of blow the night they slept together.

She thinks about Reggie's inability to be sober and present, knowing it's to mask the sadness, that she only feels through experience.

Feeling utterly guilty at this train of thought Veronica becomes restless, and slowly creeps out of Archie's bed, into the hallway and toward the bathroom.

As she turned the doorknob, her hands became cold and sweaty from the guilt.

But once again, she felt as though she had no self control.

 

 


	4. Uncertain Futures

Veronica had indeed found what she had been looking for, the morphine pills left over from Fred's most recent back injury at Andrew's construction.

A pang of guilt ran through her as she thought back to when Fred had been shot, and how he had quickly become reliant on his pain mediation, to the point where it worried Archie.

That was when Veronica had confessed to him, that not long ago, she had been heavily medicating herself in order to avoid her reality.

Their honest conversation that night had brought Archie to address his father's issue, he navigated the conversation with maturity and sympathy, thanks to Veronica.

She knew this feeling to well, that nothing would stop her at this point, not even Archie or her parents bursting into the bathroom would be enough to convince her not to swallow the three small blue pills already in her mouth.

Without any further hesitation, Veronica dry swallows all three, like she had done many times before, enjoying the sensation of them travelling down her throat.Finally, she sips some cold water form the tap.

The water feels amazing against her lips, and soon she's submerging her whole face under the stream of water and scrubbing her make up off with Archie's basic face wash, that isn't half as effective as her usual make up remover.

Afterwards, she retreats into his bed, as she lets her head hit the pillow, she excitedly waits for her mind to become loopy and numb.

She hopes that she's taken enough, and that this will allow her some rest, finally.

Before the morphine has dissolved into her blood stream, Veronica lies restless, uncomfortable and sweaty in Archie's bed thinking about what had happened that Friday morning, which had led to an embarrassing shouting match in front of everyone during Cheryl's calculated questioning at the party.

_Friday, finally. Veronica thought, this week had been gruelling with assignments. She had been loosing a lot of sleep burning the midnight oil on her various papers and assignments._ _Today, after second period, she would be free. The last thing standing in her way of a carefree weekend was the science test she had been dreading. She had studied, but not nearly enough because of all the other work she had to finish first._

_Veronica was at her locker 10 minutes before the bell signalled first period. She was avoiding her friends in the student lounge because of her nerves. She didn't want to be seen this phased by a test, but the end of first semester was nearing, and these would be the grades she was submitted to colleges, hopefully Ivy league University's, maybe if she was lucky, she'd end up at Columbia, NYU or Browns, anyway to be closer to the city. She had put a significant amount of pressure on herself, and it was taking its toll._

_Suddenly, she felt a familiar hand grab her ass, then slink around her waist to pull her in. Veronica didn't understand why Archie's affection was so off putting to her all of a sudden, but it caused her to react more harshly than either of them expected._ _Quickly removing herself from his embrace, avoiding his attempt to kiss her, she push him away with one arm and shutting the locker a with a little more force then intended. A startled Archie couldn't even react, before she was laying into him._

_"I am so stressed out right now Archie, and you're suffocating me! How many times do I have to tell you that I hate when you invade my personal space, and how much I HATE when you're touchy at school" she rants angrily at him, for no other reason then the combination of stress and lack of sleep. Veronica knows that Archie has done nothing wrong, and she's lying to herself about hating his affectionate side, but in that moment she was consumed by rage, and couldn't filter her thoughts before venomously letting them out._

_Archie just stood there dumbfound for a moment, before his expression turned into hurt, then anger. "What the hell is going on? This... this, 'whatever this is'" he says referring to her outburst, "can't just be because of me hugging you at school" he knew something was up, because Ronnie normally welcomed his morning hugs, and often needed a deep kiss after a whole night apart._

_"I'm sorry" she says to him, and he nods, "I haven't slept enough, and I'm stressing over school, I know that's not cool or fun, but I'm so worried about my chances of getting into college, you know without any 'help' from my parents" she looks up at him, with shame cast on her face, and Archie instantly realizes that she's once again trying to escape the chaos her parents trap her in._ _He knows that all their help has come with strings attached, and no matter how hard she's tried to influence them to be better, he also knows that they'll never be able to love her the way she deserved to be loved._

_That's why she has such a hard time accepting Archie's love, his affection, the way his arms instinctively wrap around her when she's afraid._

_He knows by now, after taking intro to psych last year, that children who have not experienced unconditional love, don't know how to give or receive it later in life._ _He also knows that he and Veronica have gotten past those insecurities, but every time her parents trigger her, she becomes cold and aggressive towards him, in an attempt to push him away._ _Because there are days Veronica doesn't feel deserving of his love, and lately there have been more frequent feeling of inadequacy on her end._ _Veronica was going through emotional warfare with herself, feeding her old, buried feelings of self-hatred._

When Archie stirs awake, he notices his girlfriend's weird sleeping position immediately.

She's moved as far away from him as possible, which given the circumstances, he feels as though that should of been his move, but instead he woke up trying to pull her in closer, and being matched with dead weight.

Veronica's arm and part of her leg was hanging off of his bed, and Archie quickly noticed that she was in a much deeper sleep than usual, he also recalled as his mind finally gave into his exhaustion that she was still wide awake.

He pondered if every night had been like this for her since, and how yesterday when she spent the night, sleep came to her in a sedated state after polishing of a bottle of wine to herself, and having barely touched the dinner she had made for them.

Was that dinner made out of guilt? Archie quickly thought, probably. Everything she had been doing for the last week must have been out of guilt.

Thinking deeper, to the extra time she had been spending with him, to how eagerly and quickly she accepted his apology Saturday morning; of course failing to mention that she had fucked Reggie at some point past midnight, and technically, she had sex with both Reggie and Archie in the same day, probably less then 12 hours apart.

All these thoughts caused Archie's jealousy and anger to ignite.

He roughly shakes her shoulder, deciding not to let her sleep any longer, because he needed her to fill the gaps in the sequence of events leading up to his apology Saturday morning after Friday nights fight.

Veronica barely stirs, continuing to sleep.

Archie lays there next to her, stewing in his thoughts.

He desperately needs her to comply with his wishes, and give him every detail that he already knows she wants to hold back.

So that his mind can stop filling those gaps for him, with the worst scenarios of Reggie carelessly fucking Veronica.

He believed her when she had told him that it was an instant regret, he saw her raw emotion when she had confessed that she wanted him not Reggie the whole time.

He knew his girlfriend well, he knew that hurting her and spewing a few shameful secrets of hers in a drunken rage would definitely earn him some sort of pain, but Archie went home from the party fearing that she was going to kill him or worse break up with him.

Now, knowing the truth, he would give anything to go back, and stop himself from letting his insecurities get the best of him. He had always been insecure when it came to keeping Veronica, not as in a possession, more like keeping up with her, maintaining her intrigue. 

Like she could fall out of love with him at any moment, because she was very much out of his league, and the moment someone better suited for her came along she would be gone.

He hadn't thought about those looming insecurities in awhile, because she had been matching his intense love, and he felt as though she needed him, just as much as he needed her.

These insecurities however, came rushing into Archie's mind as he recalls Veronica talking about her future, on that doomed Friday morning.

She mentioned Ivy league schools, and New York City vividly.

Pointing out her love of bodega's, busy crowds, Sak's and the 4 B's (Bergdorf's, Bendels, Barney's & Bloomie's), the tall buildings, and the smell of human fear at 6:45 AM and there are no vacant cabs available for those running late to work.

Archie, is focused on his absence in her rendition of the future.

It breaks his heart that every possible future plan he's thought of is encompassed by Veronica, everything he's planned for involves her. 

And there she was, panicky and rambling about the uncertainty of her future, when all Archie could think about was the uncertainty of their future.

He couldn't believe that she had left him out of this grand scheme to get back to New York, and now he was back to being the insecure boy she started dating two years ago, the boy who didn't trust that she loved him, the boy how was deeply afraid to loosing her.

In that moment of self-destruction, Archie decided to press on about her affair with Reggie.

Archie pushed himself up slightly, then once he had adjusted his body and pillows, he reached out to pull Veronica in, again she stirred, but wasn't awoken by his moving her body.

Archie found this odd, as she would normally complain about the slightest movements in the bed in the morning, when she wasn't ready to wake up yet.

"Veronica" he said, coming out a little more coldly then intended.

But Archie couldn't bring himself to care at this point.

Finally her eyes groggily opened, and she turned her head to face him. He just stared at her beauty, how could he love someone who caused him so much pain he wondered, as he watched her brush her hair out of her face, and yawn.

Slowly she made eye contact with him, "What time is it?" she asks sheepishly, starting to stretch her body that felt already felt limber, and she knew why.

"It's around 1 am" he says knowing that they had retreated to his room in the early evening, and vaguely remembering his phone reading 7:32PM before finally giving into sleep.


	5. Sleepy Confessions

Veronica nodded sleepily, she could feel herself giving into a hazy sleep again, but before she could drift off, Archie spoke up "I can't stop thinking about you and Reggie" he admits.

Veronica was too loopy and tired to have this conversation, but the warm feeling inside of her produced by the pills gave her the courage to answer Archie's questions, she was mostly motivated by the fact that if she was able to appease his curiosity, maybe she could go back to sleep.

"Mhmm" escapes Veronica's mouth, it's too dry all of a sudden for anything else to come out.Archie looks concentrated, he's probably trying to figure out what to ask, Veronica notes mentally. She's enveloped in a feeling of disgust with herself, as she watches her anxious boyfriend try to compose a question. 

Finally she sees him open his mouth, and she shuts her eyes bracing herself for the impact.

"Who started it?" Archie chokes out, he had decided the only way to sort through all of the open ends, was to go in chronological order.

Veronica was about to lie to him again, because she was in Moose's parent's ensuite doing lines that Reggie had brought when he started groping her teasingly, and then against her better judgement she leaned up a hungrily kissed him.

Their kiss was sloppy, they were both wasted, there was pent up sexual tension from all the dancing and grinding they had done downstairs when Veronica had decided on acting single for the night out of revenge, of course she didn't mean for it to escalate the way it did.

As if Archie could read her mind, "please just tell me the whole truth Veronica" he begs sadly. She feels compelled to tell him everything, even though seconds ago she was planning on lying. In reality her long pause signalled to him that her response would be calculated and most likely omitting the more scandalous details.

"I'm not exactly sure" she tells him truthfully. And then continues before he can probe further.

"I was really drunk Archie" she sighs, knowing that what's to come is going to upset him. 

"We were dancing together for awhile" this time it's Archie who sighs.

Knowing how hot Veronica is when she dances, even more so when she moves loosely and inappropriately thanks to the liquid courage, normally Archie has to pull them into a private corner because her grinding as left him with a huge uncomfortable boner pressed into his tight jeans.

He can only imagine the effect her dancing had on Reggie, he wasn't naive enough to delude himself anymore. Veronica had definitely been grinding all over Reggie, for revenge he tells himself quickly.

He can't deny that Reggie too was probably sporting a boner, one that Veronica definitely would have felt with all that 'dancing'.

"You were all over him, weren't you" Archie spites out, and it shocks her.

She looks down, feeling guilty, again, "yeah" she mumbles, not able to look at him.

"Then what Veronica?" he says slightly raising his voice, trying to avoid feeling sorry for her.

"How does it go from grinding on Reggie to make a point to FULL ON FUCKING HIM" now he's really yelling, but the tone of his voice is coated with heartache.

This kills Veronica, she wants to run her chest under boiling water until it burns so badly that she can't feel anymore. 

But she can't run away, she's stuck, because she's in love with him, any avoidance or cowardly behaviour on her part could jeopardize that.

Veronica's mantra was to be honest and overly apologetic, very sincerely and authentically apologetic. 

She had to convince him not to stop loving her, if that was even possible after taking his heart and smashing in into billions of broken shards.

"He offered me some coke, and I just wanted to numb my brain for the night, after everything you had said to me and about me, in front of them, I could feel everyone staring and whispering ok? So yes, I made a really fucking stupid choice, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Archie" she's back to pleading and trying to stop the tears from forming in the corners of her eyes, but she can't help it. 

The sobs overtake her, and she feels so small and pathetic crying in front of him.

All Veronica wants is for Archie to reach out to her and hold her, but she knows that's unlikely considering her betrayal.

Veronica looks up at him with the saddest eyes he's ever seen, he can tell that she knows he's very disappointed, his eyebrows knit together with concern, but his eye are filled with disgust. 

His mouth just hangs open, until he moves his hand over his jaw, gradually making his way to his hair, and scratches his head for a moment.

He truly doesn't know what to say at this point, because all of his angry questioning has been met with sad confessions from his girlfriend. He's starting to realize that she was also trying to hurt herself that night. 

And that she's been deeply hurting ever since, but he can't figure out why she went that far in the first place? This fight had been bad, perhaps their worst.

He blames himself for it, because he let his anger build up all day.

Thinking back to that Friday he remembers being consumed with thoughts about Veronica and the future.

Particularly, he was curious as to where she saw them in the future or if she had pictured them at all? 

That day Archie was very uncertain about the future. His luck worsened at lunch, when Veronica was in a horrid mood after her science test. She barely touched him. 

He was too afraid to touch her at this point to, given her morning outburst. So he sat there weighed down by the heartache Veronica was unaware of causing, trying desperately to avoid anymore fights with her. 

They had received their science tests back this Friday, for her only to find out she had aced it. 

But last Friday, she had been certain that her answers were inadequate.

Her grumpiness at lunch rubbed off on Archie, as he spent the rest of the day growing angrier at every small thing that didn't go his way.

His anger only boiled more after loosing the football game to the team they had been working doubly-hard to beat. Reggie had played like shit, and quite frankly so had Archie. 

After the final buzzer he rushed off the field, brushing past Veronica making a B-line for the boy's change room.He also recalls the sadness in her face as he rushed by her, but what did she expect from him now, after leaving him out of the future. He thought nothing could hurt more.

Well, he was very wrong. Come to find out less then 12 hours ago, that a lot can hurt more. Archie started wondering how much more he'd be able to take. 

These conflicted feelings were killing him.

He hated her one moment, but the next he can't deny that he's obsessively in love with her either. 

Every time he wants to hurt her back, he stops himself.


	6. Friday Night Flashback

_Veronica sat in Archie’s car silently as he drove them toward Moose’s house._

 

_The car ride was silent and tense, “Archie pull over", she said as soon as she recognized that they were nearing Moose’s street._

 

_Archie pulled over gently into a safe spot in front of one of the nice houses in this area of Riverdale, he was worried that she was feeling sick._

_“Are you ok, Ronnie what’s wrong?, Do you need some air?” he questioned worriedly._

 

_All she could do was nod, as she could feel herself starting to break down in tears._

 

_Archie immediately ran to her side of the car, pulling her out into a soft hug, and placing her on the sidewalk, still holding onto her waist until he was convinced she had regained her balance._

_These attentive moments, where Archie knew exactly how to respond to her emotional behaviour was made her love him so much._

 

_“Archie, I know something is going with you, you’ve been distant since lunch, and after the game you seemed to not want to see me” she said sadly._

_Archie couldn’t burden her with the truth at this moment, because she was also being attentive toward him, and their relationship, suddenly he was doubting all of his earlier feelings._

_“Ronnie” he sighed and pulled her into to him when he noticed her shivering from the cold breeze, “I’m sorry, after the game I was pissed at myself, and I just didn’t want to listen to you trying to cheer me up out of pity, I love you so much, I’m so sorry I’ve been a jerk all day” Archie says honestly, and Veronica leans up and kisses him._

_She kisses him softly at first, but quickly deepens it when she realizes how much she missed him today._

 

_Archie stop only for air, then kisses her back harder, is if he was trying to prove a point._

 

_Veronica does her best to keep up but eventually Archie has fallen out of any rhythm and is just harshly biting her bottom lip, until she winces at the pain and pulls away._

_She looks at him worriedly, before touching her swollen lip._

 

_As evidenced by the small amount of deep red blood on her finger, Archie’s love bite was a little too deep._

 

_“I’m sorry” he says with guilt written all over his face._

_“Does it hurt” her asks, gently brushing the strands of her that have fallen onto her face out of the way._

_“No” she smirks, “I liked it” Veronica says with a teasing wink, “but save it for the after after-party, Daddio!”, Veronica laughs before getting back into the car._

_This time the mood is completely different, the music playing loudly, Veronica is holding Archie’s thigh, and he keep kissing her neck overtime was leans over to change the song on his playlist, apparently there are many she doesn’t fancy, Archie notes._

_Minutes later, not even a whole song has past, partially due to Veronica’s indecisiveness, or in her words “Archie’s lack of taste”, their parked across the street from Moose’s house._

_Once again, Archie steps out first, opening Veronica’s door like a gentleman, a routine they had truly perfected after 2 years._

 

***************

 

_Archie was staring at his girlfriend from across Moose’s living room._

 

_She was pretty drunk, he could tell by the way she didn’t control the volume of her laughter, or the way she tossed her head back in laughter, unaware that the strap of her dress had made it’s way down her shoulder._

 

_She was getting slightly sloppy. A beautiful mess, Archie thought as he made his way over to her._

_As soon he was next to her, propping himself on the arm of the love seat she, Cheryl, and Kevin were occupying, more like sitting all over each other. Archie quickly fixed her dress strap, pulling it up, causing Veronica to shift and pull her dress up her chest a little more, suddenly feeling her boyfriend’s disapproving and overbearing gaze._

_Archie’s overprotectiveness had been a sore spot for them, and Cheryl knew this quite well._

 

_After all her and Veronica had become very close, the whole squad had become a group of supportive fierce females, thanks to bold newcomer’s like Veronica, Betty and Toni. They had managed to unburden some of Cheryl’s pain, and as a result, some of the fire Cheryl used to feed obsessively had diminished._

 

_Not all of it though, and tonight, after Veronica’s foul attitude during her pep talk after the game, she was in the mood for some chaos._

_Archie’s gesture of adjusting Veronica’s dress didn’t go unnoticed to Cheryl either, “Well well well, if it isn’t the middle school chaperone coming here to inform us of our violation of the dress code” Cheryl says as she pops another button of her blouse open._

_Veronica instinctively cover Archie’s gaze, an act of jealousy that was attributed to her drunk state, but all of sudden she was threatened by her boyfriend’s eyes glued to Cheryl’s chest._

_Archie quickly repositioned his eye towards his girlfriend, blushing at the fact that she had caught him peaking._

 

_“I’m sorry, I’m drunk, and slow” he mumbles, but Veronica’s arching eyebrows suggest that she too is in the mood for chaos._

_She smirks before leaning over to Cheryl and grabbing her face seductively, and before Archie’s brain can even register what is happening, Veronica’s lips are passionately connecting with Cheryl’s._

 

_It’s Cheryl who takes advantage of the situation, pulling Veronica in closer and deeper._

 

_Veronica reacts immediately roaming her hands down Cheryl’s body suggestively, until she feels a bigger more masculine hand grab her arm, and pull her away for the kiss with Cheryl._

_Cheryl scoffs, and Veronica looks at Archie worriedly again, hoping that he would take it as the joke it was meant to be, sometimes he could be so uptight, that she had a hard time telling him about the wilder things she had gotten up to in her early teen while she was still in New York._

 

_“Relax Archiekins” she says almost annoyed, “It’s a party, a mild one in fact, if this is too risqué for you, then you don’t want to know what I’ve gotten up to in back in the city” she admits attempting to be even sexier and more impressive to the growing audience, that had gathered during Cheryl and Veronica’s kiss._

_“Is that why you’re so eager to run back to New York, because you’re bored here, is that why I’m not a part of the plan either, because you find me too boring ” he questions slightly angry at her for toying with his emotions._

_“No Archie, of course not, come here” she mentions to him and he sits next to her, now that Cheryl has gotten up to discuss her locking of lips with Veronica to tease all the jocks who quickly left their game of beer-pong to watch the two hottest girls at Riverdale make out._

_“I’m sorry for kissing Cheryl, I was only trying to tease you for staring at her, ok? I didn’t mean it, you know that” she asks in a telling fashion._

_“Yeah, I’m sorry, I’m all over the place today” he sighs shaking his head, and look down into his lap, “Veronica, do you ever think about our future?” he asks sheepishly, slightly afraid of the answer._

_“Of course I do Archiekins” she admits happily, relieved at his question._

_His heart skips a beat out of happiness when he hears her say this, “What does it look like?” he asks further._

_“You eating chinese take out noodles of my bare back, after fucking in out grimy yet charmingly tiny Upper East Side apartment, while listening to out neighbours screaming about some crazy ass shit you’d only hear in New York” Veronica responds elegantly, convincing Archie that this truly had been a thought she had had before._

_He smiled at her pleased with her answer, pulling her into a kiss, “I can’t wait to eat chinese take out noodles off of your naked back” he says into their kiss, when he pulls back, Archie stares deeply into her eyes “I love you sooo much Veronica Lodge” he confesses innocently._

_“I love you too Arch” she says before kissing him again, this time pulling herself over his lap, straddling him and she deepened their kiss and started to grind her crotch into his, his hands start to roam down her body, stopping at her ass, grabbing it, and grinding her in harder into him, “I think we should go upstairs” he whispers into her ear._

 

_Veronica huskily whispers a ‘yes’, and immediately Archie is standing up, hold her up with ease, as her legs are wrapped around his waist, carefully concealing his boner, she presses her upper body into him as well to hide the fact that her nipples are fully hard, and piercing through the soft material of her silky dress._

 

_Archie navigates towards the stairs with some hollering from his team mates, but is suddenly stopped by Moose’s macho hand grabbing his shoulder “Dude, can’t you fuck your girlfriend later, I’m getting too drunk to play pong, and our team has been on a loosing streak” Moose pleaded, seconded by Reggie, “Yeah, man, stop thinking with your dick, and get your head in the game” he yells obnoxiously, winking at Veronica at the end._

 

_Before Archie has time to protest and continue his stride toward the stair case, he feels Veronica shift in his grip, and hop down. “They’re right, we’ll continue this later when we have more privacy” she whispers sexily into his ear, and Archie can’t keep his eyes off of her as she walks toward the kitchen to fix herself another drink._

                                                                                        *************** 

 

_At that point Betty had finally entered the party, almost two hours later, Veronica was puzzled by this out of character arrival of Betty Cooper’s nonetheless Veronica was overjoyed to have her best friend there. She quickly made her way and happily greeted her._

 

_“Woah slow down there, drunkie” Betty said as she reached out and put her hand on Veronica’s side to steady her, “Is everything alright V, I know you had a rough day, and after the game with Archie” Betty spoke noticing that her best friend was clearly very intoxicated._

_“Everything is great B, don’t worry Arch and I worked it out, but I was actually going to ask you the same thing, It’s not very Betty Cooper of you not to be punctual!” Veronica said still cheery, and unphased by her drunken state._

 

_Betty smiled and nodded at her dear friend, before a devilish smirk formed onto her face as she said “Actually, I was with Jughead…and things got, we lost track of time” Betty had always played it coy when it came to sex, it was one of her many endearing qualities according to Veronica Lodge._

 

_Veronica bounced up and down, silently clapping her hands not to attracted too much attention, before pulling Betty into the kitchen._

 

_Ronnie poured them both drinks, she had decided that she was going to show a boyfriend for the night Betty Cooper a good time, as she herself was practically boyfriend less for the night as well._

 

_From the other room, the two girls could hear the ‘bros’ as they called them, cheering and chanting some hymn about drinking beer, they both laughed at the neanderthal-like behaviour happening in Moose’s parent expensive dinning room._

_Soon B & V were joined at the hips on the make shift dance floor, aka the section they moved all the furniture away from in the living to create adequate space, as well as ensuring the safety of Moose’s parents elegant furniture. That is until they hear a loud crash coming from the kitchen, instinctively they both spring toward the sound of panic. _

_There was Reggie laying on the ground under Moose and Chuck in a laughing fit. Veronica quickly scanned the room for Archie, but he was no where in sight, she was thankful that he wasn’t dragged into this chaos._

 

_She also instantly noticed the potent smell of pot filling the air, that is until she realized that the boys had been trying to hot box the kitchen pantry, until Reggie fumbled the bong, resulting in a loud crash and shard of glass all over the pantry floor._

 

_Apparently, the three boys burst out of the pantry door in a fit of giggles, and collapsed on the ground still laughing._

 

_Betty looked at them disapprovingly, and pulled Veronica away from the kitchen, “Come on V, let’s get out of this room before we get contact high” she says._

 

_Veronica once again laughs at her half-innocent bestie, and proudly marches out linking arms._

*************** 

_Her and Betty are caught up talking to Josie, Val, Toni & Kevin, when Veronica finally spots Archie emerging from upstairs, looking slightly guilt and paranoid. _

 

_He makes a sharp left and disappears down the hallway before she can call out to him._

 

_Moments later Cheryl scampers downstairs looking quite pleased with herself. Immediately her stomach is in knots and she can barely breathe, did Archie hook up with Cheryl upstairs? Before she had a minute to think Veronica threw the plastic red cup onto the ground beside her and marching toward the hallway so quickly that the cup had barely made it to the floor before she was out of sight._

_Of course they all worriedly rushed after her, Betty leading the way, “V, what’s wrong?” she tried to call out to her friend, but there was no use, because as soon as they made it to the back deck, where Veronica had entered angrily seconds sooner, to see her shove Archie, knocking the cup out of his hand as well, and sending him stumbling backwards, until he finally regained his footing._

 

_“WHAT THE FUCK, RONNIE?” he yelled half amused by her rage in his drunken state, but mostly shocked by this sudden out burst._

 

_Veronica stood toward him again, he held up his hands defensively, “I’m going to hit you, you idiot” she said as she got close enough to drag him further into the yard._

 

_Veronica needed privacy, unfortunately for her there was none, so when her eyes spotted to occupied chairs on the other side of the pool are, she stomped over with Archie in tow._

 

_“Move” she bit out angrily, and the two juniors who were clearly talking about the senior drama got up and stumbled away quickly._

 

_“Ronnie, what the hell is going on?” he asks no longer angry at her for shoving him, but now more exhausted from a long day of emotions._

_“What the fuck were you doing upstairs with Cheryl” she asks trying to remain level headed, but the deep hatred in her tone scares Archie for a moment._

 

_“It’s not what your thinking, ok?” he says quickly, attempting to calm her down._

 

_“Ok then Archie, enlighten me, what were you doing upstairs with Cheryl if you two weren’t hooking up” she says strongly, followed by “You weren’t fucking her were you?” she questions further sounding sadder this time._

 

_“No, no, god no Veronica! How could you even think that I would ever cheat on you?” he says clearly hurt._

 

_“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry Archie, please don’t be mad at me” she begs him drunkely, looking at him with her puppy dog eyes, and he’s no longer afraid to tell her what Cheryl had relayed to him upstairs._

 

_He hugs her first, pulling her into his lap, “I was upstairs using the bathroom, because the downstairs one was covered in puke, and as I was leaving, Cheryl just wanted to stir up trouble, she said she had some massive secret of yours that ‘she couldn’t bare keeping from me’” he says sarcastically, “turns out it was a complete lie, Ronnie, you have nothing to worry about” he said confidently._

 

_He looked at her more seriously this time, "Ronnie, I know it's not true, so promise me you won't freak out?" She looked back at him and nodded while lovingly playing with his messy hair._

_"Something about aborting my ginger-judas offspring? , she couldn't even say it with a straight face, I could tell she was up to something the moment she grabbed my arm" he confessed to his girlfriend, trying to down play the rumour Cheryl had started so that it wouldn't get to her._

_But by the pale and shocked expression Veronica was wearing, he could tell that it definitely was getting to her._


	7. Mixed Emotions

Archie reached for his phone, again, noting that only forty-five minutes had passed since they had woken up.

He look back down at Veronica, who could barely keep herself awake at this point. He started to feel guilty.

Yesterday it had been so easy to focus on her mistakes and betrayal, but now he feels partly responsible for this mess.

As much as Archie had tirelessly apologized, and promised to make it up to her, he was still angry with himself for exposing her secret carelessly. 

He keeps rationalizing his actions, trying to convince himself that he was so drunk and devastated by her lie, but Archie knows deep down that he wanted to hurt her that night, humiliate her in front of everyone she knew. 

That's how he had felt when Cheryl broadcasted the news to him for a second time, more convincingly, but nothing could prepare Archie for Veronica's admission that followed Cheryl's accusations. 

There he was standing in the middle of the party, anger rapidly travelling through his blood stream, as he questioned further for the truth. 

Every answer she gave had felt like a knife to the heart. And in a moment of weakness, Archie started to rattle of nasty accusations, making several revelations about her shameful past, and storming out coldly brushing his shoulder against hers on his brisk way out of the party.

Laying there, with Veronica somewhat in his arms, strangely felt like some sort of win, a fucked up win. If she could forgive him for reacting so inappropriately to the news of her abortion, then he too must find some way to forgive her. 

Although Archie was really hurting, he also wanted to take away the pain he had caused her as well.

He groaned at the realization that it was now technically Monday, and that in less then 5 hours they would have to be functional human beings, that seemed unlikely.

"Hey" he said softly to her, trying to signal a temporary truce, due to his rising guilt, "I'm sorry too" he says, and she knows he means it. "Archie, please don't apologize anymore, you deserved to know, and I took that from you, and made a huge mess out of our relationship" she said slowly moving closer to him and squeezing his hand.

"I get why you said those things, because I wasn't letting you in enough before, and part of me knew that you would probably always be there waiting, and that's not fair to you... But now I know what it's like to feel like I'm really loosing you, and I'm so scared because I don't know what I would do without you?" she breathes uneasily trying to calm her shaky voice."Ronnie..." he begins, and it feels good to hear him use that nickname again, he hadn't since she had confessed to sleeping with Reggie.

"Even last year, when we had broken up, and I literally wanted to kill you, I still loved you, and the only reason I got through that gruelling month, was because I knew that when I was able to get past the lies and broken promises, that you would still be there, waiting for me to take you back. 

No one has ever made that as mad as you have, but I've also never loved anyone the way I love you Archie" Veronica spoke, and Archie nodded, he understood exactly what she meant, he too was hoping that this would pass. He really understood, she also drove him crazy, getting him madder than he's ever been, similarly to what happened at the party. 

They had a passionate relationship, but sometimes, if he was being honest, being angry with her only made him want to hold onto her tighter, because after the anger came the most intense sensation of love. Feeling like no one has ever loved and desired you before that moment. 

He knew that fighting and fucking seemed twisted, but at this point, so were they.

There should be nothing holding him back from kicking her out and never speaking to her again Archie thinks, 'she got rid of your baby, without even telling you! 

Then she fucked your mate, why are you still craving her?'. 

He can't come up with an answer but even the thought of letting her go scares him. He would be left a shell of the man he used to be. 

Archie can't remember what life was like before her, and he can't picture the future without her. 

"I don't want to loose you either" he whispers sadly, knowing that he was caving. 

"You're tired" he tells her, "go back to sleep Ronnie" he says and her prayers have been silently answered. She mumbles something incoherent, then rolls away from him falling into back into a deep sleep in a matter of minutes.

******************

The morning felt like death for both of them, and the sappy, loving, and sleepy mood that Archie was in during their late night conversation had evaporated. 

Now all he could think about was coming face to face with Reggie Mantle and potentially killing him with his bare hands, the angry thought quickly turned into regret in Archie's heart, he knew deep down that Reggie had never meant to hurt Archie either, that he was a horny meat-head who wouldn't have been able to turn Veronica Lodge down for all the money in the world. 

After the anger came jealousy and humiliation. He watched Veronica stir awake at the sound of him shutting his dresser drawers. 

She smiled at him lovingly, naively under the impression that last nights truce still stood. 

He looked at her then blurted out "Looks like I'm going to be the biggest cuck at Riverdale High" looking down laughing out of anger at the situation. "Archie, nobody knows, I swear nobody will find out" she tries to sound convincing but it's still early in the morning and she doesn't have her wits about her at this hour.

"Yeah, I'm sure" he spits back sarcastically, "with Reggie's big mouth, everyone will know by the end of the week!" stating even louder.

"Archie, don't worry about Reggie, I took care of him, he's not allowed to breathe a word about this to anyone" she tries to reassure him again, but it only results in more anger. 

"YOU TALKED TO HIM?" Archie yells back, now crying because he can't stop the loop of Veronica and Reggie fucking that's playing in his mind. 

"I had to, to make sure that..." she gets interrupted by Archie, "Make sure that you've covered your bases? When where you going to tell me Veronica?" he lays in.

"No, I was trying to protect you, ok? I had to talk to him, more like threaten him to keep his mouth shut" Veronica bit out anxiously, this was going very south. "Were you also trying to protect me when you fucked him?" Archie asked and stared at her with disgust. 

"Arch..." Veronica started to plead. "No, you know what.. just go, please, just get out" He said exasperated. 

And then she fully got out of his bed, she rushed past him, grabbed her coat and ran out of his house. 

Archie stayed frozen, in disbelief with himself, and maybe more so that fact that Veronica was actually gone. 

But when he heard the faint sound of his door shutting, he collapsed onto the floor in violent tears, his whole body shaking, his face beet red, as he was desperately gasping for air in between sobs.

************

Veronica couldn't bare the thought of loosing Archie, in his absence she had never felt lonelier. She spent her day thinking about him, enable to eat, sleep, or move from her bed, going to school hadn't even occurred to her. Veronica's agonizing was interrupted by a knock on her door, but she felt too weak to get out of bed without getting dizzy, she had barely eaten two grapes all day. She assumed it was her mother, bringing her dinner that she would apathetically decline, but when the knob turned and the figure behind the door revealed itself, it was Betty, followed by an unconvinced Archie.

His heart broke all over again seeing her laying on the bed so small and lifeless, he knew what she had been going through because he had been going through it as well.

"Jokes about my meddling aside.." Betty started to speak in order to break the tension, "you two are going to work this out, because your both miserable without each other" she said matter of factly, still unaware of the transgression that had occurred between Veronica and Reggie.

She made her way over to her best friend on the bed, while Archie sat down on the chair belonging to Veronica vanity.

Betty crawled onto the bed slowly, trying to not disturb a fragile Veronica, and leant down next to her, "V, I know what he said was awful, I'll admit, maybe even unforgivable... to most people, but not you two" she exhaled before continuing "Believe me when I tell you that I'm beyond disappointed in Archie, but that night was the perfect recipe for a disaster; excessive drinking, fights, lies, and Cheryl's meddling, this blow up seemed inevitable, I mean after everything you guys went through last year, this cannot be the way it ends, V, if you would just talk to him..." Betty trails off because her best friend has tears forming in her eyes. Veronica feels a new level of guilt and shame, knowing that Betty doesn't know her dark side like Archie does.

She's fearing the judgement and disappointment that's going to radiate off of Betty Cooper's face when she hears Veronica's confession. As much as she'd like to keep this secret from her morally superior friend, Veronica also can't bare the thought of Betty being angry and disappointed with Archie anymore, the all too familiar guilt was overwhelming. Veronica could no longer lie to her best friend, not after a week of paranoia and fear. 

"I cheated on him" she spoke, and just as she had anticipated, Betty's face contorted from sorrow to disgust... it brought her back to when she had told Archie, a day prior. Veronica also saw a wave of understanding wash over Betty Cooper's face. As if the pieces were quickly being put together, Betty was in the midst of realizing that regardless of any truth behind the venom she spewed at Archie this morning in defence of her best friend, she had probably broken him down even more. Why didn't he say something, she wondered, but then Betty answered that question for herself: because he's loyal to a fault.

She was looking down at Veronica in pure horror, never expecting those words to leave her mouth.

"Veronica..." Betty trails off yet again, having no clue what to say or even how to breathe in a room so full of intense emotions.

Veronica just looked at her friend also not knowing what to say, until a small vulnerable part of her head decided that she needed to know one thing from Betty Cooper, and that was where they stood? How would her awful betrayal effect everything with Betty, she wondered sadly."Do you hate me now?" She asks terrified of Betty's response, knowing how cruel she could be, and knowing that she deserved it. A part of her hoped that Betty would lay into her without holding back, and rattle off an epic list of reasons why she'll never speak to her again. At least this way she could inflict more pain onto herself, Veronica thought.

"No" Betty said quietly, "I could never hate you V" she furthered with a small smile, she brushed the tears off of Veronica's cheeks and continued "you were hurting, and you made a mistake" Betty spoke sympathetically, and Veronica felt like things would be alright for a brief second, that is until Archie walked out of the room, slamming the door to make his point.

Betty and Veronica both hopped off the bed, but suddenly V became dizzy and quickly sat on the floor holding her head. "V are you ok?" Betty asked in a panic, "I'm fine" she lied to her, as tears start forming again, barely managing to choke out, "please don't let him leave", Betty looks at her again, before nodding in agreement and rushing toward the bedroom door to catch up with Archie.

Betty was the most empathetic person Veronica had every known, which made her feel guilty about the effect her personal dramas had on Betty's mental stability.


	8. Hallways & Pain Meds

"Archie wait!" Betty tried to whisper yell as bet she could knowing that Veronica's mum was home.

He just stared at her briefly before walking out the front door, Betty was not about to give up, especially when she knew how badly V needed this. She quickly scurried toward the door and caught Archie angrily staring at the elevators, as if he was trying to will them to move faster.

"Hold on Archie" she pleaded, "I'm so sorry about this morning, if I had known about... I would of never said any of those things to you" Betty said, hating herself for giving in to her darkness before she had a chance to hear him out.

Looking at him now, the heartache was written all over his face, and the way he carried himself. She had a million questions about the happenings of that night, much like Archie had yesterday. Betty was again trying to connect the dots in her head, she knew why, and most likely where and when, not that the setting had too much of a difference, Betty knew it had happened at or after the party due to the state Veronica was in, self destruction and bad decisions seemed likely. But 'who', was most pressing, Betty thought back to the end of the night, hours after Archie had stormed out, she herself had been exhausted, and was certain that her friend V was using more than just alcohol to keep herself going, energy wise, and to numb the hurt that Archie's blow up had caused. But as far as she could remember, all of the guys had surrounded Veronica on the dance floor, and after spending half an hour upstairs with Toni and Kevin trying to console V in the aftermath of her boyfriend's revelations, Betty was sure that the only boy in Veronica's mind was in fact Archie. 

Then, Betty thought about the 'how' and instantly felt guilty for leaving her broken friend at the party alone, thinking to herself that she should have been there to prevent this. But as Betty recalls, Veronica was is no mood to leave the party, and had assured an exhausted and drunk Betty that she could take care of herself. It helped that Toni was still there, but Kevin was leaving with Betty, and the inner circle of people there who were willing to stop Veronica from making stupid decisions was now down to one. 

The 'goods' had long left, leaving the 'bads' to influence Veronica deeper onto the path of destruction. People like Cheryl, Tina, Moose, Chuck, Reggie... and then it had dawned on her, that the most likely contender was probably Reggie Mantle, and a whole new wave of sadness rushed over her as she realized what that would do to Archie. His level of competition with Reggie had often caused major trouble.

Betty moved over, closer to Archie, until she leaned into a big hug, "I'm so sorry Archie".He stood there briefly non-reactive of Betty's hug because he had been drained, but then the familiar smell and comfort of his oldest friend soothed him, and he hugged her back, letting go, and starting to cry, much like he was when she had found him that morning. Once Archie had caught his breath, he pulled back and asked Betty "why were you so willing to forgive Veronica immediately, but had so much rage directed at me this morning?" he asks mostly out of curiosity, but part of him wants her to feel bad for forcing him to come here, only to have his heart further crushed.

"Arch, I'm sorry, I know it doesn't seem fair right now... BELIEVE ME when I say that I'm shocked, disappointed and crushed that Veronica would ever hurt you like that" she starts, but then pauses to sigh, because she's afraid of his reaction was going to be when she admitted to being a neglectful friend, who choose to shine a blind eye to Veronica's tell-tale signs of destructive behaviour.

"After you left, she was unconsolably crying for a half-hour in the bathroom upstairs, so when Kevin was finally able to cheer her up, I didn't stop her from drinking herself into oblivion, and I also didn't say anything about the fact that every time she emerged from the bathroom, Veronica seemed to have this manic intense high level of energy, I should have forced her to come home with me, instead of letting her get so out of control, I could have stopped this..." Betty trailed off.

"No one, in the 17 years of her existence, has ever managed to force Veronica to leave a party sooner then she had wanted to" he says laughing ever so slightly. Siting next to Betty, in the Pembrooke's over the top hallway had finally given Archie a small break from being trapped inside his head, swirling with self-loathing thoughts and hatred toward Veronica. "Thanks Archie, but I should be the one making you feel better, not the other way around!" she stated.

"Why don't we go to the Bijou for a movie, to distract you from all of this, I'm sure that Juggie would be more then willing to bring take-out from Pops and join us, like old times?" Betty asks sweetly, hoping to cheer up her best friend that she now felt like was a misguided little puppy that needed mothering and food, definitely food. 

"Betty, thank you for trying to cheer me up, but I'm not really up for a movie right now" he says trying not to disappoint her.

Just then Archie's phone rings, and it's Kevin. He looks down slightly confused, then looks at Betty, "It's Kevin" he repeats out loud.

"Answer it" she says as if she was stating the obvious, in a sweet way.

"Hey man, what's up" Archie says, in classic bro-greeting way, that Betty and Veronica loved to make fun of whenever they'd catch him being overly macho or testosterone-y.

"Uh, right now?...I guess I could meet you in 10 minutes?" Archie says still highly confused, as to why Kevin was calling him, speaking a mile a minute, and barely giving Archie the option to refuse this impromptu and seemingly desperate favour Kevin needed.

Archie was honestly thankful for the distraction, he looked up at Betty again after hanging up the phone, "Kevin needs me to help him fix something he wrecked in the yard, and was hoping I could bring some of my dads tools...I'm honestly not sure what's going on?" he shrugs

"What, what did he say?" Betty questioned further, needing more information.

"Betts, he as talking at the speed of light, I could barely understand, something about the fence and the back shed needing a lot of work before his Dad's return Wednesday afternoon, he sounded desperate, and If i'm being honest, I could use the distraction of manual labour, I'll just have to find a way to keep up to the pace at which Kev speaks" he says laughing to himself again, maybe he would get by with a little help from his friends Archie thought to himself, but the familiar phrase brought sadness to him, when he realized that Veronica wasn't technically a 'friend' anymore, if she was ever categorized as one in the first place. From the moment he saw her walk into Pops, looking like a comic book villain, he knew he wanted more.As he stood up to press the elevator button once again, as it had long come and ago, since Betty had caught up with him.

Betty stood up as well, enveloping him into a big hug that she was hoping could provide a level of security and feeling of love that her dear friend deeply needed. She also quickly made a mental note to convince her boyfriend to check in on Archie, she hated lying to Jughead, but she knew that she was not allowed to breathe a word of this to anyone, and Betty was not at all willing to expose herself to Veronica's wrath, and as much as she loved her boyfriend, she also knew that he already judged V a little more harshly, and had been critical of the toxicity of her and Archie's relationship. But that was before, after 2 years on and off, her and Jughead understand better than anyone that love is hard, and relationships, especially in high school, are a lot more work then they're portrayed to be. Betty's conflicted thoughts about enlightening her boyfriend were interrupted by Archie.

"About that movie, maybe you, jug and I could have a sleep over in my living room...like old times, I really don't want to sleep in my room, alone, because.." he trails off but Betty understands that everything in Archie's room has some memory of Veronica attached to it.

"That sounds great Archie, Jug will provide the movie selection of course, and I'll bring a ton of junk food, maybe you should invite Kev, if things go well today? I'm sure he'd love an invite, and who better to keep the mood light?" Betty inserts, hoping that Kevin's lightheartedness would positively influence Archie, knowing that Jughead's doom and gloom perspective would make Archie want to slit his wrists.

As the elevator dung, sounding it's arrival, Archie walked in, turning to Betty once more, "could you, just you know, um... make sure she's alright?" he asks awkwardly and feels instantly pathetic.

"Of course" Betty says nodding to her friend, looking at the way his head hang low, his back slouched, and the circles under his eyes deeply visible.

*************

In Betty's absence, Veronica continued to sob on the floor for awhile, until enough time had gone by that she had given up hope that either of them were coming back.

She slowly pushed herself off of the floor, and dizzily walked into the kitchen, her hunger had finally won, Veronica looked through the fridge, noticing the dinner plate her mother had left for her in the fridge. 

She reheated her food, and devoured the steaming pieces of food enjoying the burning pain that was rushing down her throat. After her meal, she was feeling a lot better, especially physically. But mentally, she was still re-playing Archie's angry outburst from this morning, and just now, over and over again. 

She really itched for an escape at this point, desperately trying to silence the voice in her head that kept repeating to her that she wasn't good enough for him, or anyone else for that matter.

She knew that ever since her stay in rehab, that her mother had made any and all medication in the house unavailable to her without parental permission, over the years Veronica had earned enough trust to keep a limited number of painkillers for headaches and cramps in her room, but standard ibuprofen was no fun. 

But like a true junkie, she remembered that her mother always carried a couple of valiums in her purse. Hermione's purse happened to be sitting on the kitchen island, dauntingly staring back at Veronica, or at least that's how she perceived it.

Quickly scanning the halls for any sign of movement from her mother, she rushed back into the kitchen and hurriedly riffled through her mother's belongings, until she finally felt the cold plastic exterior of her mom's pill case. 

She pulled it out delighted to see that it was full, and containing an assortment of pretty, colourful capsules. She grabbed a few that she recognized as and quickly put everything back into it's exact place.

Veronica scurried into her bedroom ensuite, and started the tap, as she looked down at the dangerous combination of pills she was about to consume. 

Of course at the time, Veronica wasn't thinking about the interactions of these drugs when mixed together, she created a false confidence in the fact that her mother probably mixed them all the time, especially considering they weren't even stored in separate containers. 

Her small palm contained an oxy, 2 tabs of xanax, and a vyvanse. 

The combination of the heavy over-the-counter painkiller, the two sedative anti-anxiety pills and the stimulation and hyperactivity caused by the adderall-like medication was manifesting into a dangerous emotional rollercoaster that neither Veronica, nor Betty or her Mother would be prepared to face. 

Feeling so down, unable to stop herself, Veronica swallowed the pharmaceutical cocktail and washed it down with some water, as she excitedly awaited the outcome.

Veronica was blissfully unaware that within a few hours of swallowing said combination, she would evoke a manic and uncontrollable feeling of warmth, joy and motivation, followed by high highs and low lows, confusion, disorientation, vomiting and incoherent speech that would result in a trip to the ER in the back of an ambulance, with Betty watching a pale Veronica screaming in pain and vomiting, and a beyond panicked, and sickly-worried Hermione Lodge trying desperately to help her daughter, holding back her hair, and rubbing her back.


	9. Unconscious Thoughts

Veronica is staring up at the pierce fluorescent light in the ambulance, laying on the gurney, as she finally stopped vomiting. 

Everything around her was moving quickly, but her she felt like she was barely processing any information, her body was moving at half their pace. 

She could see Betty, in the corner, next to the other EMT who was re-checking Veronica's vitals.

Betty looked hysterical, a red face, tear stained cheeks, and smudged mascara. 

Then Veronica slowly turned her head over, to see her Mother, who has also noticeably been crying. 

Hermione is holding Veronica's hands, kneeling next to her gurney in the ambulance. 

Veronica can see her Mother's lips moving, but there's too much other noise interfering with Veronica's level of comprehension. 

Her eyelids are getting heavier, and within moments everything becomes dark. 

Veronica lost consciousness for mere seconds, but to her it felt like an eternity, and all she could think about was her relationship with Archie.

Complicated was how she would describe them, their entire relationship had been riddled with complications. 

Much to Veronica's surprise, every obstacle they had faced in the past had made them stronger.

At first, there was Betty, and the closet, and Veronica's loyalty to her, then, new friend. 

Now thinking back to time when Betty had feelings for Archie seemed so long ago, even after Veronica found out about the kiss between Archie and Betty she was able to get past it, something that at the beginning of their relationship would have been her biggest insecurity. 

After Fred Andrews' was shot Archie had gone off the deep end, and she was desperately trying to pull him back from the ledge, which she had mostly failed to do, but had she not been there, Archie would have suffered a worse fate due to his tunnel vision for revenge, and careless vigilante-like actions. 

Not even a full 24 hours into their relationship, things had become heavily complicated by Fred getting shot, they became intense, and Archie was depending on her more and more everyday. 

She thinks of herself a year ago, terrified when she heard the words 'I love you Ronnie' come out of his mouth, and heartbroken when she couldn't say them back. 

That too was weird to think about, considering that it had become a fact about her; Veronica Lodge, 5'2, dark hair, tan skin, brown eyes, loves Archie Andrews. 

After the first break-up the honey moon phased had been amazing, Archie was the most amazing and protective boyfriend ever, and soon it became easy to admit to him what she already knew, that she was madly in love with him. 

The second time Archie and Veronica broke up was far more painful.

She had a suspicion about her Father, and Archie's constant private chats, so she did some snooping on both ends, finding ample evidence in both her Dads office and her boyfriends room to convict them both of being liars. 

She had never felt this betrayed, it hurt so much, that Veronica was certain she wouldn't ever get past that intense sadness. 

In the end they had gotten through that as well. 

He had pleaded with her, and she knew that she had brought him in to her chaotic world, and his involvement with her Father came from fear, and his noble need to protect her, even if he had gotten swindled into doing Hiram's dirty work.

She felt as though, when it came to Archie she knew how to handle things. But not this time, not after having fucked up so grandly. 

A week ago, Archie had found out, thanks to Cheryl's uncontrollable need for revenge, that Veronica had indeed had an abortion, even though she had told him that there was 'absolutely no truth to that rumour whatsoever' and he believed her. 

She knew he would never understand, but she didn't want this to effect there relationship, and she also knew that Archie wouldn't be able to compartmentalize this information like she had. 

Veronica handled her brief pregnancy very secretively. 

She had a bad feeling as soon as she noticed that she had missed two pills in row of her birth control, knowing that Archie never pulled out either. 

They had sex constantly, Veronica knew there was a possibility but she still wasn't due for her period, regardless she would take a test later that day. 

She wasn't overly panicked yet, because Veronica knew that if she was in fact pregnant, her decision would be to have an abortion. 

She didn't feel any guilt about it at the time, nor was she aware of how it would affect her, and how behaviour towards Archie in the passing months. 

Veronica kept the secret from him, to avoid yet another complication, but mainly because she knew that his feelings and emotions about this would have a lasting effect on them. 

She knew that Archie couldn't handle this information, it was October, school was picking up, football, music and scholarships all on there forefront of Archie's mind, he had been so stressed during that time, particularly about his financial future, adding pressure on himself to get a grant or bursary so that he could pay for college. 

Veronica knew that she would feel forever guilty if she had distracted Archie or jeopardized his future in way, because of her irresponsible actions. So when the test indicated two pink lines, positive, Veronica had immediately booked her abortion before breaking down. 

Her emotions were controlling her for the few days before her appointment. 

Her mother was keenly aware of this, and was never above snooping through her daughter's bedroom and personal belongings in order to help her daughter, Hermione told herself. In this case, her intuition had been right, Hermione shuffled through Veronica's stuff until eventual stumbling upon a carefully tucked away pregnancy test, that read positive. 

Veronica never would've imagined that her mistake would change her relationship with her mother for the better. 

Veronica's parents had been separated for awhile now, for the best, her Father's return from prison a year ago had turned Hermione cold, but since the summer, and Hiram's moving out of the Pembrooke, and Riverdale to go back to New York, Veronica's relationship with her Mother had improved, at this point their bond was the open, honest, unconditional loving relationship between a mother and her daughter. Hermione had been angry, but nonetheless supportive of every decision Veronica had made. 

The day of the procedure was extremely difficult, Veronica was a nervous wreck, but Hermione helped her through it every step of the way. 

The experience helped Veronica trust her Mother again, wholeheartedly. She knew now, having going through it, that she had been naive to underestimate the impact it would have on her emotionally and physically, and silently thanked god that her Mother had found out, because she could not have gone through it alone. 

Hermione did once, mention to her daughter, that if she was choosing to lie about the pregnancy and abortion now, that she could never go back, that it would be very painful for Archie to find out later rather than sooner, but Hermione also sensed her daughter's fear, so she never pressed harder about it. 

Veronica remained adamant about keeping the secret from Archie, to protect him, like he had done for her countless times.


	10. Sex with Her

Archie had in fact gone to help Kevin repair his back fence, and dented shed.

He was going back tomorrow to help fix up the garden landscape as best as he could, he felt bad for Kevin.

Although Kevin had told Archie that some drunk kids from the party two doors over had trashed Kevin's backyard with their bikes, Archie knew that there was more to the story. Kevin was definitely covering something up, and Archie was deciding to investigate further.

His intense curiosity for Kevin's situation mostly stemmed from how liberating it was to have his mind taken off of Veronica for a few hours, not that he could completely ever distract himself from the thought of his girlfriend, but while talking to Kevin, and doing physical labour, he was able to tune out the crippling pain he was feeling. On his way home, Archie was thinking about forcing some space between him and Ronnie for a while, so that they could heal separately, but as soon as he thought it through, Archie realized that he couldn't control his desire to call her, and be with her.

As he pulled into his driveway, he decided to give her a call, it was decently late, but he knew that Veronica Lodge would not be getting much sleep tonight, considering how he had left the situation in both his bedroom this morning, and hers later that day. He couldn't help but also feel guilty, for causing her so much pain as well.

But he had to keep reminding himself that she had lied about the abortion, and fucked Reggie Mantle because she was feeling sorry for herself.

This reminder helped Archie stay angry. His anger surged when she didn't pick up his second call, 'what right does she have to be ignoring him at this point' he thought becoming more enraged.

Exiting the car, he slammed the door shut, and stomped into his house quickly, and went straight to the bathroom. Archie was taking a much needed shower after being covered in sweat, mud, cement, saw dust, and more sweat.

The water felt amazing, but Archie could only focus on the massive blow out they had the night of the party.

He was overanalyzing everything she had said to him, and trying to think back to any occurrences in late October that would have tipped him off, but all he could remember was being busy, and her being the most supportive girlfriend at his side at every game, giving him her english notes, and making him many epsom salt baths to soak his tired and sore body. He felt guilty about not having noticed, Archie was suppose to be an attentive boyfriend, and yet he had failed her when she needed him most.

But she had also failed him. In fact she had failed him many times in the recent days, that he didn't know how much more he could take. Archie felt trapped, as if there was no life outside of Veronica, but life with her right now was getting pretty miserable.

Archie starts to cry in the shower as he recalls that how convincingly she could lie to him. At the time he just thought it was drunk sex at a party after their earlier spat, now after overanalyzing her choices of words, and sexual manipulation, Archie finds himself lost. Having heard many horror stories about the 'old Veronica', he was starting to think that she was slipping back into old ways, and he was just too love-sick to notice. This sadly brings Archie to the conclusion that he can't trust her anymore, or at least this version of Veronica, one that seems so distant from his beloved girlfriend. 

_Archie sat across, staring at his pale-faced and shocked looking girlfriend, he wanted to reassure her that he wouldn't take Cheryl's nasty word over believing in his girlfriend, boy was he wrong to assume that._ _Finally Veronica spoke, "this is all because I contradicted her during her mean spirited 'pep' talk after the game" she looks down guilty then continues "I may said been a little icy in my delivery..." Veronica trails off._

_Technically, she wasn't lying, she still hadn't denied it, although it was only a matter of time until she'd be forced to full on lie._

_"_ _Ronnie, she can't just make up lies about you to try to destroy us, I going to go talk to her" He says becoming more protective._

_"No, Archie, forget it, I will handle Cheryl" Veronica said in fear of the truth coming out during a confrontation between her boyfriend and her frenemie (currently)._ _"_

_Ronnie, you can tell me anything you know that? Whatever is going on with you and Cheryl, I can help you" Archie says sweetly, "I'm definitely not going to let her spread a rumour that you got an abortion behind my back, I know you Ronnie, I know Cheryl's full of shit, but don't you worry about people gossiping about us?" Archie asks._

_After every dramatic break up or fight last year, both Veronica and Archie had found being amongst their curious, gossipy, prying peers to make everything tenfold worse, that's why she understood his need for her to quash this 'rumour', but Veronica also knew that a part of him carried some uncertainty, even if he wasn't clued in right now, she knew that this token of information would stick with Archie, until he would finally figure out the truth._

_"Archie, there's no truth to this, but I have so many scandalous truths about Cheryl, that she wouldn't dare try to start this rumour" she says looking at her half convinced boyfriend, "I'll talk to her" Veronica finishes before leaning in to kiss him._

_"_ _But first, let's go finish what we started earlier" Veronica says with a sultry smirk that drives Archie crazy._

_"You are so hot baby" he moans into her ear as she starts kissing his neck, leaving careless hickeys._ _"Let's go inside" she says breathlessly, as she can feel his growing boner, and she can't keep her hands out of his pants anymore._

_They quickly shuffle back into the house, discretely moving up the stairs and locking themselves in Moose's older sister's room._

_Veronica would not have agreed to have sex in Moose's bed, knowing that his sheets were probably sweat soaked, and cum stained, much like Archie's had been when they first start dating, until of course, she shamed him enough into maintaining a certain standard of bed cleanliness._

_As soon as Archie closed and locks the door, Veronica is pulling her skirt down, he quickly picks her up as soon as she shimmies out of the expensive fabric, and lays her down roughly on the bed, evoking a giggle from her. Archie on the other hand, was serious and concentrating, already overly excited as it is._

_His lips are devouring hers, leaving sloppy kisses all over her jaw and neck, meanwhile Veronica's hands have already roamed down his body finding his belt, she expertly unbuckles it (Archie's favourite, and probably only belt, she thinks to herself), quickly unzipping his pants and shoving them over his ass and down to his knees._

_Archie stands up momentarily to free his legs from his jeans, and pulls his shirt off as well, he quickly moves back to hovering over top of Veronica, lifting her and pulling her shirt off slightly aggressively, signalling that he was very turned on._

_"Archie" she moans into his hair as his face in buried in her breasts, he's kissing them, and sucking her nipple, biting down and nibbling softly, knowing that she enjoys it a little rough when they've been drinking._

_Veronica giggles at the slurping sound coming from Archie mouth engulfing her nipples, as he concentrates on her boobs._

_Archie is easily distracted by boobs, especially Veronica's, and she uses this knowledge to her advantage sometimes, to coax him into watching a movie of her choice, or staying a little later at parties._

_Veronica starts to grind her pelvis more forcefully into his boner, her hands scratching his back teasingly, and pulling him by he hair, to reconnect his lips to hers._

_"Ronnie, I can't take any more teasing, unless you want to be finishing solo?" he smirks at her, "no, definitely not Archiekins, I want you inside of me... now" she breathes out and pulls his boxers down, Archie quickly shoves them off, as well as Veronica's, pulling them down her legs and throwing them haphazardly onto the bed._

_"No more teasing, Ronnie" he says as she's lightly stroking her fingers up his dick, "then fuck me baby" she says in a husky voice, sending Archie over the edge._

_She guides him inside of her, and he starts thrusting, adjusting their rhythm, as they start kissing again._

_Soon Archie start to pick up the pace, and their mouths separate as they're both gasping for air, Veronica's hands are on his ass pushing him forward into her, she's moaning pretty loudly, but it sounds like a mere whisper over the loud party music coming from Moose's massive speakers downstairs._

_"_ _Archie. turn. over." Veronica barely manages to breathe out through the heavy panting._

_"Mhm" he agrees before rolling onto his back, pulling her up on top of him, Veronica kisses him passionately pressing her naked body up against his, feeling his excessive sweat stick to her, and finding it endearing and attractive._

_She loved the smell of sex with Archie, his sweat smelt honest to her, and not repulsive, well sometimes after gym, or football practice, he smelt terrible, but during sex, the smell of their bodies was so familiar and comforting at this point, it turned her on even more._

_She lowered herself onto him again, grinding her hips slowly at first, then increase the pace when she pulls him upwards in a deep kissing._

_Veronica is bouncing up and down, the skin slapping together between them and the panting is all that can be heard in the room._

_Veronica throws her head back moaning as he hits the super sensitive spot inside of her._

_"Ronnie, I'm close" he pants, "I'm going to make you cum" he says again, feeling her tighten around him, knowing her, he feels that she's close, he just hopes that he can get her to orgasm before he blows his load, which was becoming increasingly difficult._

_"Yeah, just harder" she can barely focus on words as Archie starts thrusting up harder. Veronica is moaning very loudly now, he can tell that she's almost there, so he focuses all of his thoughts on not cumming before her. He speeds up even more, and by Ronnie's response he can tell that she's so close, and so is he, already trying his hardest to hold back._

_"Ronnie, I'm .." he starts but she covers his mouth with her hand, and throws herself into him feeling the climax starting, she grinds into him harder and harder before finally feeling the wave start go in her body, Archie feels her muscles contract, and can no longer hold back. Veronica seems to be managing her orgasm, taking control._

_"I'm cumming" he yells, grabbing her hair, and pulling her in closer, as the muscle in his stomach contract._

_"_ _Me too Arch" she says clinging onto him for support, she hears him groaning, and feels his body release, she loves hearing her boyfriend moaning loudly as he cums, and feeling it inside of her sends her over the edge, and she cums seconds later, body exhausted._

_She finally lays her whole dead weight on him, to exhausted and crampy to support herself sitting, he collapses back, to lay on the bed, while holding her._

_"I love you so much Ronnie" he says nuzzling into her hair once he's finally caught his breath, "you are so sappy after sex," she lets out a wave of laughter, "but I love that about you, I love everything about you" she finishes._

_"What do you love about me specifically Veronica Lodge?" he asks with a smirk, "Oh look who needs their ego stroked, as if fucking you isn't enough?" she jokes further, but then he gives her a sweet kiss, and she's inclined to list off a thousand reasons why she loves him._

_"I love the sound you make when your about to cum, very sexy, manly, animalistic moans" she says and kisses him again._

_"I love the way your bigger and taller then me, and I can fit myself next to you perfectly, you make me feel safe" she kisses him again, "I really love the way you look at me, Archie you make me feel like I'm the only one in the room, like I'm special" she admits,_

_"You are more than special Ronnie, you are my everything, I love everything about you too, especially the cute scrunchy face you make when you cum" he says laughing into her lips as he kisses her more, they deepen he kiss, not wanting to let go of this moment and return to the chaos downstairs._


	11. Cruel Love

_As they descend the staircase, in their best attempts to not look disheveled, Archie and Veronica are immediately greeted by Cheryl, who's face is telling of the destruction she's about to cause, Veronica immediately feels nauseous._

_Instinctually, she grabs onto Archie's hand and braces for the worst._

_Her nerves were telling her, that seconds from now Cheryl will say something too factual for her to be able to deny, still Veronica is hoping to avoid any confrontation, maybe Cheryl will let it go? she doubt its._

_"Well Well, if it isn't Riverdale walking 'pro-abortion' campaign, right on Hillary Clinton!" Cheryl says playfully, trying to get arise out of Veronica._

_Veronica remains calm, she tries to take a minute to figure out the best way to diffuse the conversation, but before she can say anything, Veronica is cut off by Archie's less than friendly tone._

_"Look Cheryl, I personally know that Veronica can get pretty cruel when she's angry" he looks over apologetically to Veronica "sorry babe" he mouths to her, as she glares at him, waiting for his point._

_"But whatever she said to you does not warrant you spreading this lie around, do you even realize how much this would effect everyone? Our friends and parents will find out, this town will gossip, so I'm telling you, nicely, stop trying to start this rumour, unless you have nothing to hide, Ronnie weren't you just about to fill me in on some real scandals involving Cheryl?" he says looking over at his girlfriend lovingly, teasing Cheryl, in that moment Archie naively thought that he had the upper hand._

_His cockiness immediately triggered Cheryl's rage._

_"Oh Archie, and to think that I almost felt bad about having to crush you as collateral" Cheryl starts, "Veronica feel free to chime in, but I think my rendition of the tale will be much more...what's the word... truthful" Cheryl says antagonizing Veronica._

_At this point, Veronica is emotional depleted, all she can muster up is "Cheryl please don't do this" sadly._

_"Oh I absolutely will do this, because I for one will not have liars on my squad, and as long as you still want these extracurriculars on your applications, I suggest you fess up, or I gladly will" Cheryl says smugly, knowing that she had her opponent cornered, and at this point a big enough audience had gathered._

_Veronica hesitated, so Cheryl went in for the kill, "Ok, time's up V" she says and quickly continues "Veronica over here got knocked up by none other than Archie Andrews, but instead of telling her sweet loving boyfriend, Veronica called the clinic for an abortion mere seconds after finding out she was pregnant, how does it feel to know that your girlfriend didn't think twice about aborting your offspring...?, Polly kept JJ's" she adds, "But do you know what she did have to think twice about Archibald?, those three little words that you so desperately wanted to hear from her...you can say them now though, can't you Veronica? Or is that a lie as well?" Cheryl concludes, smirking at Veronica._

_Veronica's eyes are plastered to Archie's shocked face, "Tell me it's not true Ronnie" he begs, but she can't lie to him again, especially when she feels like Cheryl is the prosecutor, she's the guilty defence, her peers the Jury, but ultimately Archie is the Judge._

_"Arch..." is all she can say, before he realizes that she has been lying for months, he is to drunk to comprehend to emotional state at the time, or her deciding factors._

_Everything is suddenly too much for him, he's been humiliated, betrayed, belittled, but most of all heartbroken in front most of his classmates._

_The mixture of alcohol and shock waver over Archie._

_"I don't even know what to say" he says turning to the crowd, looking at Betty, Toni, Kev, Fangs, Moose, Reggie, Cheryl, Tina, Josie, Melody, Val, Midge, Ethel, Chuck, only to see more people gathering behind them too._

_"Other than that I am the biggest idiot in Riverdale, for falling in love with a liar" he announces, then turns to glare at Veronica._

_"All along you kept telling me that you were a bad person, that I shouldn't fall for you because you'll hurt me, and here we are, exactly as you had said" he scoffs._

_"Bad. person." He repeats, "Your worse, your a fucking lying manipulative shallow slut, I mean how do I even know it's mine?" He blurts out followed by many gasps._

_"Archie! Stop!" Betty interjects, not willing to watching her best friends humiliate themselves at a party._

_"No, Betty, you don't know the half of it, if you really knew Veronica, there's no way you'd want to be her friend, she's not a good girl, as much as she tries to be, Veronica's fucked 15 different guys before me, oh and she also used to have a problem with blow, New York Veronica was a lying, cheating, morally bankrupt, coke-whore, Betty, how do you feel about that?"_ _Betty looked at her friends in shock,_

_"_ _Archie please stop" betty tried her best to reason with him, but there was no use._

_He turns sharply to Veronica, "Were you ever going to fucking tell me?" he yells at her, not holding back any cruelty._

_She just looks down, tears already running down her face from before, "Archie" she says, but he's had enough of her withholding information._

_"YOU'VE BEEN LYING TO ME FOR 4 MONTHS?" getting even louder, "How could you look at me everyday and lie?" he questions, but before she can say anything he brushes past her, shoving people out of his way, and slamming the front door shut on his way out._


	12. Trust Issues

Archie steps out of his shower still angry, towelling off then quickly moving to his room, he was thankful that his Dad was away, that he could have some space.

But a little part of Archie wished that his Dad's wise words could guide him right now, he knows his Father has always regretted letting his mother go, as well as letting his chance with Hermione slip away (which Archie thanked god for, otherwise his relationship with Veronica would be taboo).

Archie feared he'd suffer the same fate as his Fred, ending up single and alone.

No one could tell him there were other girls he could met and potentially fall in love with one day, and that this pain would be gone, because he knew that was lie.

Veronica was so unimaginably unique, and his whole being craved her, and no one else.

As Archie started to get dressed, he looked back at his phone, seeing a 'thank you :)' from Kevin, and a missed call from his Mother.

He'd answer those later, right now, he was still intent on reaching Veronica, completely unaware of the drug-induced psychotic break she suffered at the Pembrooke, or that she was resting at the hospital, with Hermione and Betty in the waiting room.

He called her once before hearing her voicemail and shutting it off before the hearing her voice and causing even more pain.

Then he decided to try Betty, but her phone had also gone straight to voicemail, must be dead he thought to himself, but a small part of him was already panicking and worried.

Archie tried to ignore the negative thoughts in his mind.

Finding it increasingly harder to convince himself that something wasn't wrong.

He decided to call Jughead for a peace of mind, if anyone could belittle Archie's girl problems with news from the outside chaos it would be Jug, he also knew that Jug was being fragile with him ever since Betty had filled him in, not laying into Archie like Betty had.

"Hey Jug" Archie's thankful that his friend answers, but his nerves are immediately set off when he hears the panic in his friends tone.

"Archie, have you heard anything? Betty hasn't updated me in hours, I think her phone died" Jughead rambles nervously assuming that Archie was in crisis mode after finding out that Veronica was in the hospital, except Archie didn't know, he had been completely unaware and purposefully left out of the loop.

"Jug, what the hell is going on? Where is Betty? Is she with Veronica?" Archie questions worriedly, hoping that they didn't do anything dangerous. 

He hears his friend sigh on the other end of the phone, I guess Betty forgot to mention that Archie was not privy to this evenings catastrophe at the Lodge's, "Arch, can I come over man, I think we need to talk this out in person, so that you don't do anything stupid immediately after I hang up, are you home?" he says treading lightly.

"JUGHEAD, what's going on, is it...Ronnie? Is she ok?" he panics, and Jughead racks his brains as best he can to quickly end this call and rush over to his best friend's house, "Archie, she's going to be ok, but I need to talk to you in person ok? Hang in there for 10 minutes" and with that the phone call is swiftly ended, and Jughead is on his motorcycle on his way to Archie's.

Archie starts to pace around his room, preparing for the worst, was she ok? was she hurt? where was she? why wasn't she answering any of his calls?

Why had Betty been texting Jughead about it but not him? Was Veronica going to break up with him? he feared everything all at once, causing his heart to palpitate faster, his hands were clamy, thoughts paranoid and overwhelming.

Archie was going to have an anxiety attack, if he couldn't manage to settle himself down. 

He tried calling her over and over again, until he got frustrated and threw his phone onto the couch, and broke down crying.

 

When Jughead arrives, he opens the door to find his friend slumped on the floor with his back leaning against the couch. Jughead can tell Archie had been crying and was trying his best to collect himself before his arrival.

"Archie" he says, quickly scooting down to sit across from his friend.

"Jughead, just tell me what's going on, don't sugar coat it or overcomplicate it man, I need to fucking know if she's ok already!" Archie pleads desperately. 

"She's at the hospital, she's fine now, they found a combination of pills in her stomach that don't mix well, and traces of morphine that caused her to momentarily loose consciousness, but she is doing ok now, Arch" he admits bluntly, as per request. 

Archie's eyes widen in shock, he was expecting bad news, but this was not at all what he had prepared for. Archie sat there in shock, speechless.

"Archie there's something else, I probably shouldn't tell you, but..." Jughead trails off, Archie looks up at him desperately.

"Betty called me panicked and crying from Veronica's room before Hermione got home, she said that Veronica was acting insane, completely out of control, one minute she was manically happy, and the next she was sobbing uncontrollably and saying some crazy stuff" Jug says trying not to scare Archie too much, but open his eyes to the chaos that is Veronica Lodge.

"Why did she take them?" Archie's voice is barely audible because he's fearing the worst.

"Betty said that she was just trying to escape her thoughts by getting high, but they're worried because Hermione has no idea where Veronica got the morphine, and why she took it 24 hours ago, then proceeded to mix in a few of Hermione's xanax's" Jug admits sadly.

A realization washes over Archie, as he suddenly connects the dots.

She had taken his father's morphine pills from his last injury, he knew that she had stolen meds in the past, in her 'New York days', so why should he put it past her now? she's been proving to be revisiting her dark past.

It also explained why she had been sleeping so heavily last night, a little under 24 hours ago. 

These thoughts sadden Archie, feeling even more distant to his girlfriend then before, what was going on?

"She took them from my Dad" he admits

"You knew?" Jug replies accusingly

"No, obviously not man, but I know what she's capable of now, and she seemed off last night" Archie answers trying to not become aggressive with Jughead, he can't misguide his anger right now and loose his only support.

"So what happened last night? I mean I know things have been tense since last Friday, but this week seemed like you guys were back together, and over it?" Jughead was trying to suppress his inner desire to interrogate because his friend was in such a fragile state.

"Jug, I can't talk about that right now, we need to go to the hospital" Archie says springing up, only to be met with Jughead's friendly pat on the shoulder,

"We can't see her" he tells Archie softly.

"What? WHY THE FUCK NOT?" Archie's seething.

"Because she's in the psych ward, under a 12 hour evaluation, the last I heard, Betty and Hermione had been asked to wait in the seating room, until the Psychiatrist came back with her initial assessment, but there's a chance, that if she was trying to hurt herself, that they'll keep her there longer" Jughead confesses.

"She wasn't, I know her, she'll play with fire, but she never goes too far, this time she got burned, and I know that she's terrified in there alone, Jughead I can't just sit here, I need to talk to her, or at least a message through Hermione?" Archie rambles franticly, pacing around his living room, using his hands to express himself and running them aggressively through his hair.

"Archie, you need to take a deep breathe and listen to me, she is going to be ok, and as soon as Betty knows anything, you will be the first to know, but for tonight, maybe we could talk about everything, I promise to be supportive and to hold back my sarcasm to the best of my ability? What do you say Arch, I can tell there's something you want to get off of your chest" Jugheads coaxing works, Archie sits down on the couch and takes a deep breath.

"I said some unforgivable things Jug" Archie admits looking very guilty and ashamed.

 "I know, I had to settle Betty down before she came to yell at you, after a week of hearing about your epically douchey attitude, but I also know that you were drunk, blindsided and so hurt, so there's nothing you can tell me that will make me judge you, ok?" Jughead tries to reaffirm his friend.

"I'm not worried about you judging me..." Archie quips, "If I tell you what happened, you're not allowed to say anything, especially about her" Archie warns sternly, "because I'm this close to loosing it".

"Ok, relax, Archie, I will bare no ill will toward you or Veronica, I solemnly swear to be understanding and non-judgemental, are you happy?" Jug tries desperately to lighten the uncomfortable mood.

Archie just looks down at his lap, and frowns, "she cheated on me" Archie finally admits, and a similar expression of horror and sadness that were etched on Betty's face when Veronica has fessed up, were now mirrored on Jughead's.

"Oh" is all that he can say to Archie.

"It's my fault, for being the biggest asshole to her and leaving, while she was drunk and upset" Archie says, trying to protect his girlfriend from Jughead's jezebel depiction of Veronica forming in his mind.

"It's not your fault, Archie, and before you punch me, I'm not saying it's all hers either, I think you two both tried to hurt each other as much as possible that night" he says understandingly.

"Can I ask, who?" Jughead's mind pries, he can't contain his inner sleuth.

"Reggie" Archie says through his teeth, frustrated with that fact the he would have a constant reminder that Reggie Mantle had been inside of his girlfriend. 

Jughead knows that Reggie is Archie's third rail, "Are you going to forgive her?", the questions shocks Archie, it's as if Jughead finally learned to count out his bullshit opinion when it didn't belong, and ask the one question Archie needed to confront.

He wanted desperately to forgive her, he couldn't now, but he knew eventually that forgiveness would come.

Archie was more afraid of learning to trust her again, she has been lying to him a lot recently, first the pregnancy, the abortion, then leaving out the fact that she had slept with Reggie, and now hiding and stealing pills from his house, and her own. 

He feared this out-of-control Veronica, because he knew that he would never let go of her, and that she would hold them both down because he would gladly be with her even if it felt like holding a stranger. He had to believe that he could pull her out of this, before she imploded both of their lives.

"I think I have already, but how will I ever trust her again?' Archie asks, knowing that Jug does not have the answers he seeks.


	13. Bad Dreams, Good Memories

Archie had a really hard time falling asleep that night, he had spent hours pouring his feeling out to Jughead.

He was beyond thankful for Jughead's company tonight, he couldn't help but smile at his friend re-assuming his old air mattress residence in Archie's room.

Things then seemed so complicated, but now they were unimaginably more complex.

Finally, around 3 AM, Archie let his tiredness overtake his mind, drifting off.

_There she was, looking older, more mature, but still hauntingly beautiful. Her smile brought innocence and youth to her face, but it wasn't directed at him. Behind her Reggie snakes his arms around her waist, pulling her into him and placing a sweet kiss on her cheek._

_They seemed comfortable, Archie looks around at the unfamiliar setting, he's in a modern house, everything is white, his friends are all there but they too look significantly older._

_Everyone is dressed casually, but Veronica stands out to him, she looks radiant._

_But his admiration is cut short by her laughter being directed at Reggie._

_Archie can't make out what he's saying but Veronica, Betty and Cheryl are all laughing now._

_He wants to go toward her but his body doesn't move._

_Feeling panicky, Archie tries desperately to walk or even move his hand but he can't._

_He's brought out of his thoughts when Jughead claps him on the back "Hey Archie Andrews, long time no see, how's hermit life treating you? Word of advice from someone who's been there, isolating yourself makes everything feel hopeless, so come over to ours when Betty invites you, like the good Andrews boy I know you to be" Jughead quips then retreats._

_Before Archie can sort out his confusion about being a lonely, depressed hermit, he's caught off guard by Reggie himself._

_Standing a little too close, Reggie leans in and whispers; "This dinner party blows, wanna light up on the balcony before the meal is served?" winking at Archie._

_But before Archie can even respond, more like refuse the offer, Veronica appears, grabbing Reggie's hand and scolding him "I know what you're propositioning, I smelt the joints on you" she looks at him slightly mad but more disappointed._

_Archie is expecting her to yell at him for embarrassing her at this dinner party, but he's shocked when she leans in and kisses him softy, and says "I know dinner parties are triggering when everyone else is drinking and you can't be, so baby let's go home, I don't want you to ruin your sobriety again, your always so hard on yourself when you slip up, and it's hard on us as well" she says softly._

_He looks at her sadly, slightly embarrassed, but more like a pathetic man. "No, I can stay, thank you for being amazing Ronnie ..."._

_Everything else that Reggie is gushing about fades away the moment he uses that nickname, and it was reserved for him. He can feel the anger rippling through him, as this glimpse into the future was evoking the pain in his chest to wake him up._

Archie sprung upright, breathing heavily, panting until he could steady his respiration. 

Of course this commotion had awoken a sleep deprived Jughead.

"Archie, what's wrong? Does your chest hurt?" he questions worriedly noticing his friend clenching onto his heart through his shirt.

 "It's fine, I just had a bad dream, go back to bed Jug, sorry for waking you" Archie says.

"Why don't we call Betty? Maybe she's heard something by now? Maybe you'll sleep better?" Jug offers, and honestly it's the best suggestion he's ever heard. 

Archie quickly reaches for his phone, noticing that it's just past 8 AM, god knows where Betty had ended up sleeping last night, but she wasn't in her room, so he assumed the hospital or back at the Lodges.

He can't help himself, he needs to know anything, so he decides presses the phone icon and hopes that she'll answer.

His prayers are answered when she does, he sits up even straighter and says "Betty", Jughead also sits up, and comes over to Archie bed, anticipating bad news, and his friend needing support.

He can't make out what Betty is saying, but Archie is just nodding until he says "when?" and as he hears her answer and grin creeps up on his face.

"Wait, Betty, can you please tell her to call me whenever she gets home tomorrow?" Archie nods, and lets out a huge sigh of relief as he finishing up his conversation with Betty.

He turns to Jughead immediately and says "She's alright, she can go home tomorrow, and she was asking about me".

Jughead wants to be happy for Archie, and he fakes it in the moment, gladly offering optimistic words.

Anything to see his friend happy again.

But Jughead worried that Betty had been leaving out certain details, there was no way Veronica was going to be let off the hook for sneaking meds that weren't prescribed to her, it's a blatant red flag, and he knows that the psychologists will have many terms after she's release from the mental health sector of RIverdale's Hospital.

 He also is aware that Archie's happiness is shadowing the conclusion he has come to since her confession, and admittance to the hospital, that he could no longer trust her.

Jughead worried that his caring and loving to a fault friend would get buried in Veronica's mess, and eventually drown. 

He couldn't trust Archie happiness now with a reality check, but he also knew that Hermione would have new terms. 

Jughead wondered if Hermione somewhat resented Archie for all of this chaos in Veronica's life, the one she tried to fix by moving to Riverdale, but ever since the separation their mother-daughter relationship had improved, and Archie raved about Ms. Lodge. But her daughter was in the hospital because of the turmoil of their relationship.

Jughead vowed to be there for Archie through everything that was to come, because he wasn't deluding himself like Archie was.

*****************************

Veronica woke up disoriented with a pounding headache, the fluorescent white light immediately reminding her that she was in psychiatric care at Riverdale Hospital. 

She only slightly remember talking to the doctors before falling asleep.

She remember crying a lot, and feeling guilty, watching her Mother and Betty cry as they have to leave her for the evaluation.

She remembers explaining some things to the doctors, assuring them that she wasn't suicidal, and that this wasn't a cry fro help, and that her short-lived addiction over 2 years ago triggered this method of escaping reality, as if there was any other she thought to herself.

But now she was alone, phone-less, in a hospital gown, Betty and her Mother nowhere in sight, she didn't want to call the nurse back in, because that would mean answering more questions. All Veronica wanted was to take this back, and all the hurt that she's been causing everyone, especially Archie.

She wanted Archie so badly right now, Veronica wondered if he knew by now, where she was and what had happened, but knowing Betty there's was a high probability that Archie had been made aware of her psychotic meltdown.

She frowns in embarrassed and lets the tears form in her eyes without restraint. 

She's ruined their relationship and she knows it, how will he ever trust her again after this.

Veronica's heart aches at the hurt she knows he's feeling, and the worry and panic, she gets even more upset with herself while she thinks of all the times Archie had been worried or hurt by something she's done.

There are countless instance that she can recall, where she could see that he was terrified go her in his eyes, that same look he gave her overtime she would push him away, and he was trying so desperately to cling onto her, for them. 

Now, she thinks to herself, now is the time to prove yourself and your love to him.

It's easier said then done, the thought of loosing him outweighed the fear of trying. Veronica wanted to still think that she was best for him, but she knew this was selfish. She was going through a really tough time, and it was causing her act out.

Acknowledging herself selfish in needing him, made her want to be the bigger person, and let him decide whether or not he truly wanted to be with her, but she couldn't do that, not when it could cost her the love of her life, the only part of her life worth anything. 

Veronica cries for awhile, becoming increasing tired, feeling sedated and hazy, as the doctors had warned her, from all of the different chemical interactions her brain was facing.

 In her drowsiness Veronica recalls a specifically good memory of them, as if her brain was finally letting her take a breather from the sad and numb feeling she had, she may have been half asleep, or fully out, she can't remember but there she was in Archie's arms and everything felt whole again.

_She laid there in his arms, her body molded perfectly to his. Veronica never knew that she could be this happy. It was last last summer year, the two of them were lazing by Sweet Water River during the camping trip many of the juniors organized as an end of summer/ beginning of senior year 'bonding' trip, which is how they sold it to their parents, not all of which agreed. But everyone who meant anything to Veronica was, and she was overly peppy the whole weekend._

_But nothing could compare to laying on her amazing boyfriend, in the sun by the water, and listening to him talk about how inspired he's been recently with writing songs, admitting shyly that it was because of her._

_She was Archie's muse. She turns over to him and plants a meaningful kiss on his lips._

_They continue to talk about his music, and her new ideas she was excited to pitch to Josie for the pussycats this year, and the choreography that her and Cheryl have been working on all summer long._

_Veronica often teased Archie about Cheryl stealing her away, because she loved to shock her boyfriend. At the very end of the year, Veronica and Cheryl put on a very risqué Vixens performance, which as much as it turned him on, cause Archie to become jealous about the other spectators, and perhaps Cheryl's budding crush on Veronica. Cheryl and Toni had broken up at this time, and Cheryl was rebounding with every specimens at Riverdale high, regardless of gender._

_Veronica laughed to herself at this ridiculous paranoia of Archie's, she liked to tease, and she'd had great experiences kissing girls, but she didn't consider herself bi, Veronica was just overtly sexual and flirty. And Archie knew that._

_"We have to make extra time for us this year, because it'll be hectic" Veronica says, and it warms Archie's heart to know their relationship is her priority._

_"Of course, I'll just sleep continue to sleep at the Pembrooke, now that Hiram is gone" he says jokingly, leaning in to kiss her._

_"_ _Don't worry Ronnie, I'll be right by your side, I'm hoping our schedules align" He says looking at her, stroking her hair, loving the soft feel of her dark mane._

_As she laying on top of him with her stomach now pressed to his, her stomach growls and they can both feel the rumbling, Veronica laughs slightly embarrassed, Archie looks at her concerned and says "you need to eat now, before you get .." he trails off as she shoot him a death glare, slightly pushing herself up from his chest._

_"Before I get what? Archiekins" she asks, her tone is telling him to tread carefully._

_"_ _Well, you know, it's just that sometimes when you haven't eaten in a while" he comes off very nervous, but then Veronica smirks and says "I'm just playing Archie, I know I get hangry, make me a hotdog?" she asks sweetly._

_Archie smirks back and decides to tease her as well, "I've got a hotdog right here for you Ronnie" he says grinding his crotch into hers._

_Veronica throws her head back laughing, always amused when Archie can keep up with her playful banter, "Well I do suppose I should kiss the cook, that is if you are cooking for me?" she says raising an eyebrow at him._

_"Of course, anything for a blowjob, I mean for you" he continues the joke, laughing at himself more than she does._

_"I don't know where you got that idea from..." Veronica says teasingly as she rubs her hand over the crotch of his shorts._

_"Ronnie, I can't make lunch with a boner, I could be a fire hazard" Archie replies, not wanting her to move her hand, but knowing they had little privacy anyway, yesterday had been hard having to sleep in separate tents because the girls wanted to have intimate and emotional chats over mixed drinks and wine, while the boys decided that pranks, beer and skinny dipping was more their scene._

_"I don't think you need to worry Archiekins, your dick is too small to get caught in the flames" Veronica says laughing, obviously kidding, knowing that he's more then proportionate with his big tall body._

_Archie makes a mock hurt expression, letting at a fake gasp before rolling them over and pinning her down underneath him, trapping her by his weight, and holding her arms over her head with his strong muscular ones, "What did you say?" he asks trying to fake anger but he can't keep a straight face and burst out laughing, and so does she._

_But then Veronica catches a glimpse of her boyfriends honest smile, and the sun kissed freckles forming on his nose, and his now shorter hair, slightly messy from laying in the grass. "I love you" she says, Archie thinks it comes out of nowhere, but he didn't register her staring at him wistfully because he was busy laughing._

_"I love you too" he says pressing a kiss down on her forehead, then nose, finally sealing her lips, pulling her into a deep kiss, "but you're not off the hook for that one" he says smirking. "I think you owe little Archie an apology" he says, "Oh so you admit it, your small?" Veronica quips, not missing a beat._

_Archie just chuckles "there's no winning with you" he tells her lovingly, but then she surprises him "I'm sorry little Archie, I never meant to insult you, especially after all of the wonderful orgasms you've provided" she says looking down at his crotch now that he has rolled off of her and onto his side, so that he didn't crush her. "He says thanks, and happy to help" Archie says._

_"But let's go make those hotdogs, I'm getting pretty hungry too" he leans into her, giving her a long kiss. Before standing up, and pulling her up with him, making their way to the campfire._


	14. Pieces

Archie woke up just before noon, groggily realizing that he had slept through the entire morning after his bad dream and phone call with Betty.

He could hear some voices downstairs, knowing that Jughead was still there, probably in the kitchen, but his Dad wasn't suppose to be home yet, he barely heard the other voice speak, but he could hear Jughead questioning tone echoing the halls, maybe he was on the phone? Archie thought.

He made his way downstair to see Jughead and an exhausted looking Betty.

"Betty, Jug, what's going on, is Ronnie still at the hospital?" Archie asked with desperation.

Jughead couldn't help but notice that all of Archie's anger and sadness from the previous night had melted away in the face of worry.

Jug wanted to see Archie and Veronica happy, but he too now had a hard time trusting her.

Jughead had let Veronica in long ago, caring about her, and even, although he'll never admit it; missing her bubbly energetic personality from the group when she was missing.

He couldn't help but be intrigued by Veronica's veracious appetite for books, and her intelligent wit, Jug often wondered how Archie kept up, or if his pal even understood half of her references to classical authors and famous old cinematic masterpieces.

He had discovered their mutual obsession with Truman Capote, and French philosopher Albert Camus, and it had deepened the bond significantly going forward.

That was then, this is now; he thought to himself, he knew that Archie would forgive Veronica, but Jughead wouldn't forget, he made a vow to protect Archie.

So he decided that later on he would pry information out of Betty, to better understand what Archie was in for with the 'old' Veronica looming over their relationship.

"Archie" Betty said half excitedly, and engulfed her friend in a sympathetic hug, which Archie gladly returned, before calling out "get in here, Jughead!"

The three of them embraced for a minute, before Archie pulled away looking at Betty as if he was pleading her with his eyes to spill everything she knew.

Betty understood the look, and started "V is ok, well I mean she's clearly not  _okay,_  but she's doing alright for now with Hermione at the Hospital, and I think she'll be released any hour now" giving him all of the facts more so then the emotions that were running high at the Hospital, because she knew he couldn't take any of that right now.

Archie looked at her almost happily "thanks Betty" he says before looking down and trying to figure out what to ask next, there were so many questions that he still had. 

"Betty, what happened?" he asks sadly, knowing that it was a long and loaded question for her to answer, but Archie couldn't come up with anything else, he wanted to know every detail of that yesterday evenings events. 

"I'm not exactly sure, I've never seen someone loose that much control before, she was terrifying" Betty admits, and Archie nods in sorrow, fully understanding fearing for Veronica's wellbeing. 

Archie was getting increasingly worried about his ability to save his girlfriend, who was on a destructive path. "What was she like... exactly?" Archie shyly asks, hoping that Betty would intrust him with this information, but he knew he didn't deserve to know after holding her past secrets against her at the party. 

"Arch, this may be too hard for you to hear right now, maybe you should wait to talk to V about all of this" Betty offers trying her best to avoid recounting the psychotic breakdown Veronica had. 

"Please, Betty I'm begging you, she was definitely too high to remember, not that I can even trust her with delivering the truth at this point" he bites out bitterly. 

Betty sighs and nods, and Jughead peeks his head in curiosity, as if he was silently asking his girlfriend if she was ready to relive it. 

"When I got back to her room, she was buzzing, jittery, pacing around nervously, but her spirits quickly lifted, then she was laughing uncontrollably, dancing around, she couldn't stand still. She tried to convince me to leave the apartment, that she couldn't bare being there anymore, and I guess that triggered all of these emotions, because V went from acting like someone who took ecstasy and ready to take on the world, to an uncontrollable sobbing hysteria. She couldn't stop crying even when she couldn't catch her breath" Betty stops as she recalls the panic in her heart when she saw her friends face turning bluer and bluer from the lack of oxygen. 

Archie is hanging on to every word coming out of Betty's mouth, wincing at the pain he's imagining. 

"Archie, I was so scared that she wouldn't breathe, she was so pale, and blue, her eyes red from the crying. When she finally caught a breath, I took her into the bathroom, to wash her face, and give her water, she just laid there against the sink so lifeless, barely able to move her body. Her words were all slurred and incoherent, and I could tell that she was going to pass out soon, so I panicked and called Hermione, and she knew what her daughter had been through before I even said anything to her, she called an ambulance, they emptied her stomach because she couldn't tell us what she had taken in her state, her eyes were terrifyingly cold Archie" Betty finishes, leaving out some scary details about things Veronica had let slip while she was manically high and while her crying was still manageable. 

Archie hangs his head down, not knowing what to say.

"I'm scared" he admits, before letting the tears fall from his eyes, and Betty leans in to hug him again, Archie tries to compose himself quickly, "I really need to see her" he says with a shaky voice. 

"She wants to see you too Archie, Veronica kept repeating how much she wanted you that night, I know you'll be her first call out of the hospital" Betty mentions, trying to ease his mind from the heavy information she had just relayed. He nods at her trying to force a smile, but his face is permanently wearing a concerned expression.

The three of them go to Pops for lunch, and although the conversation is kept light, Archie can't seem to cheer up in the slightest. 

Two hours go by, and the gang looks depleted, his constant worrying was bringing them all down and he could tell, but couldn't bring himself to stop. 

Jughead is going on about some new overrated movie that was being compared to one of his all time favourite classics, and he was having none of it, when Archie's phone rang.                       

His face lit up when he saw his girlfriends nickname pop up on his caller ID, and immediately picked up without even considering what he was going to say.

"Archie" he hears her tired voice say, "Can you come over?" she continues with a shaky voice.

"I'm coming over right now Ronnie" he says quickly, and they hang up their call. It felt tense and awkward, but he was still relieved to finally be able to see her. 

"Guys, I've gotta go, she's home! I'll text you later?" Archie offers, trying not to seem like he was ditching his friends after all the support they've offered. 

"Of course Arch, go see her!" Betty says genuinely, Jughead just nods and offers a smile. He's still worried about Archie having blinder on when it came to Veronica's dark side, but at least Archie was starting to catch on. 

Little did Jug know, Archie was far more aware of the darkness buried deep inside his girlfriend then his best friends could ever even imagine.

Archie loved her darkness, he loved every aspect of Veronica, even when it hurt. Her darkness made her wiser, and powerful, but also brought her down when it became overwhelming.

*****************

Archie is brought out of his thoughts as he pull up in front of the Pembrooke, suddenly becoming very nervous to see her.

As he has done countless times, he walks in, greeted by the doorman, and expertly navigates toward the elevator, pushing the top floor, which led him into a hall way shared by only two penthouse sized suites.

Taking a long pause before making a left and proceeding toward her door.

He knocks softly, Archie's head is conflicted, he had agonized waiting for hours to see her, and now that he was standing in front of her door, he suddenly felt like he had no time at all to prepare.

He's taken out of his anxious thoughts as the door opens slowly, revealing a sickly yet beautiful looking Veronica.

In that moment, Archie doesn't need his thoughts to guide him, he instinctively approaches her and wraps his arms around her engulfing her in a secure hug, trying to convey his devotion to her. 

Archie may never forgive himself for not being more aware of his girlfriends pregnancy and abortion related emotional trauma, but this time, he was going to be there for her.

When Veronica reciprocated the hug, he could feel her clinging onto him for dear life, accepting that she needed him.

Although he couldn't fully convince himself to trust her again, Archie finally felt a glimmer of hope in the way she was letting him in. He needed her by his side, and now he felt that she needed him there as well, not just because she wanted him there, this felt deeper. 

"I'm so sorry" she speaks softly into his shoulder, and he can feel the wetness of her tear on his shirt, and the sniffling in her breathing.

Archie pulls her head up to face him gentle, "I'm here, it's ok" he says to her mirroring hers softness.

"I love you so much" Veronica says staring back at him, Archie's heart breaks a little, he knows that she's fragile right now and desperately needing to hear him reciprocate those words, and he does still love her, he's very much in love with Veronica Lodge. 

But admitting it to her now, after all the hurt and deceit; was proving to be hard even for Archie.

Archie Andrews loved deeply, and usually his heart was unguarded, but being with Veronica for so long, his heart had become a little more fragile, having more to lose then he ever imagined. His love for her kept him going but also held him down. 

She was holding them both down, Archie was coming to the realization that his unconditional love wouldn't be enough to hold them both up anymore. He needed more than her love, or her word, he needed her to prove to him that she was the same loving girlfriend he had believed her to be all along. 

Knowing that she was capable of keeping such a huge secret from him for months caused Archie to become jaded towards her words.

He needed to see her genuine heart, and not whatever fake front she had masterfully perfected.

This moment felt raw, and it was increasingly harder for him to hold out, staring at her scared face, he leant down and kissed her softly on her swollen lips, staying there with his lips pressed to hers, but not moving for a long moment, until he slowly moved his head up.

Archie brought his hands to her face and wiped away her tears. He couldn't force himself to tell her that he did in fact love her, yet, but he tried to show it regardless of his pride.

Veronica leads them to her room, mentioning that Hermione is home, and on high alert.

She sits on her bed, feet dangling from her high bed frame, her petite body looks even smaller in proportion to her massive bed. Archie follows suit and sits next to her, still leaving some distance, but placing a hand on her thigh for assurance.

"I'm worried that my Mom is going to ship me off to rehab again" she confesses to Archie, and he looks at her in sorrow, because he realizes that he wouldn't be able to see her or probably even contact her for god knows how long. His worry is interrupted by Veronica's voice, she probably sensed and was anticipating his thoughts, "And I honestly don't blame her, she's beyond worried" she looks down in shame, a scene that had become very familiar to Archie.

"But I can't leave you, especially now.." a single tear rolls down her cheek, "now that I've ruined us, she can't expect me to get up in leave without resolution" she concludes and stares longingly at Archie. 

He honestly doesn't know what to say, she's probably expecting him to beg her to stay, and he wants to as well, but the less selfish voice inside his head is suggesting that she may need this, still he can't bring himself to encourage her leaving.

"Ronnie" he says hanging his head down this time, sighing at his conflicted thoughts, before deciding to be selfless, "you've lost control, and it's scaring me too, not just Betty and your Mom, I don't know that you can fix this on your own anymore... I really don't want you to go, but there's a voice inside my head that's telling me you more help this time" Archie finishes. 

She's the one taken aback now, when did he become this rational and pragmatic towards any situation, where's the Archie he fought tooth and nail for her before, the Archie full of passion.

Veronica fears that she's put out his light, and everything that makes him special.

Feeling guilty she just nods, she can't help but feel hurt and disappointed by how easy it is for him to let her go, was this going to be the end of them.

She knows she has no right to ask this, but she can't leave their relationship this uncertain, "what about us?" she says looking up at him. "If I go, where does that leave us?" Veronica asks again, clarifying her question.

She's afraid that he'll move on in her absence, realizing how much she had brought him down.

It's selfish and she knows it, but she can't help herself from being possessive right now, he's all she has to look forward to. She curses herself silently for every time she couldn't let him in, and how even now, after feeling so confident and secure in her relationship, she could make such a misjudgement of how to handle the abortion. 

She remains conflicted about that, knowing that Archie's October had been ridiculously stressful and that his scholarships depended on his performance in all aspects of school, not just football. He was so proud of himself afterwards for wowing the scouts, and coach Clayton, even Principal Weatherbee.

Archie's golden boy status had tripled, Veronica still tells herself that it was for the best. 

And anyone who knows her, could see that her secrets were meant to protect him, rather than hurt him. 

Archie knew this, but it made him feel worse.

Guilty.

He hated himself for every moment he had succeeded or bragged about anything, while she was trying her hardest to support him, and ultimately feeling like he wouldn't be able to handle the burden. 

What killed him the most, is that Veronica was probably right, he doesn't doubt that he would've been there for her, but he also knows that he would be panicked, and loose his grip on everything else he was working for.

He admired how strong she was capable of being, handling this with honesty at least with Hermione, not letting her grades suffer, or extracurriculars slip.

Not to mention the fact that she had been going above and beyond in her efforts to an attentive girlfriend.

He wonders back to late October, he can recall their two week dry spell that he had been complaining about to anyone who would lend an ear.

Kevin and Jughead had brushed him off calling him a horndog, Cheryl had suggested he try to spice up their boring routine, but Betty had told him to not worry or pressure Veronica, reassuring him that his girlfriend was also a horny person, and was probably just stressed about school. 

Archie was glad he had taken Betty's advice, because he had no idea that she had just gone through an invasive procedure, and was probably not up for it.

He does feel guilty about the little comments he dropped about their non-existent sex life around that time, he wonders if it hurt her to have sex afterward, he wondered if he had been gentle or rough, who had been in control, he hoped that he hadn't hurt her further, but the uncertainty was killing him. 

He decided that after some much needed rest, they would need to have several exhaustive conversations about the abortion, as much as he wanted to get past it, he couldn't. Archie wasn't against it, nor would he have objected to her if she had told him, honestly he would have probably been relieved, not ready to face that yet.

But when Archie pictured his future children, he always pictured Veronica carrying his baby, and them looking more like her, then they did him. He was saddened slightly by the thought of how this would complicate her willingness to have his kids in the future.

"I'll be here" is all Archie can muster up after a long pause, it comes of half-hearted, but Veronica leans into him and hugs him like she's holding onto a life boat again, he wraps his arms around her, allowing her to bury her face deeper into his chest and resting his chin on top of her head.

"Are you tired?" Archie asks Veronica.

She shakes her head "I feel like I've been asleep for two days, are you?" she returns to sentiment.

"No" he shakes his head as well, "do you think we could talk?" he ask with uncertainty.

Archie doesn't know whether now would be a good time to press his questioning, especially about such painful memories when she was this fragile, but he fear of her being sent off to rehab any day now was forcing him to acknowledge his worries. 

Veronica just nods, looking back down at her lap once again.

Archie tenses up, signalling to his girlfriend that he was about to ask some difficult questions.

"How long?" is all Archie manages to say, Veronica looks at him seeking further clarification, because at this point he could be referring to numerous things she's been keeping from him.

"The drugs, Veronica" he says letting out a heavy sigh, and running his hand over his face.

Archie is saddened by the thought of her using drugs again, he knows it's to create a false sense of happiness which worries him.

"Recently" she admits, but he can't figure out whether or not she's telling the truth.

Sitting across from him on the edge of the bed, Veronica watches her boyfriend peer into her eye with uncertainty, she can tell he is having a hard time taking her word for it.

"When exactly?" he says, knowing that her habit started before she had slept over at his house and dipped into his Father's morphine pills, which he was furious about.

"The night of the party I did some coke, I already told you" her words slip out a little more annoyed then she anticipates, but Veronica has so much anger directed at herself that she's projecting the guilt and rage at Archie's questioning.

"You didn't tell me that you stole my Dads morphine pills" he spits back in anger, and Veronica looks at him in shock, having no idea how he would of figured that one out, maybe her boyfriend was more clued in then she had been giving him credit for?

Veronica doesn't say anything, just hangs her head down and start to cry, the guilt is overpowering her ability to remain cool, calm and collected.

The disappointment and distrust etched onto Archie's face too unbearable for her to look at. He doesn't try to comfort her this time.

"Why?" he asks shakily trying to stand his ground, but having a hard time watching Ronnie cry in front of him.

"I couldn't sleep" she offers, but he knows it's not the whole truth.

Archie looks at Veronica settling down and wiping the tears off of her make-up less face, still being drawn in by her natural beauty.

"How long is it going to take for me to get the whole truth from you Veronica, how stupid do you think I am? I know you didn't sneak into my bathroom and raid the medicine cabinet because you just couldn't sleep" Archie starts sounding more and more annoyed.

"It was selfish, I'm so sorry, I've been feeling so consumed in guilt and self loathing that I just really wanted an escape from my thoughts, and everything that was happening" she says looking at Archie with sad eyes.

"You've been doing a lot of selfish things lately" he starts, "but why? Is it because of the abortion? Are you hurting me now because you have built up resentment?" he looks at her after opening up and divulging his fear, he can see her thinking deeply about the answer, as if she hadn't confronted that question herself yet.

"I'm mad at myself too, I know we've exhausted the abortion talk, and all of your reasons, fears, and insecurities at the time, but how do you feel now?" he decides to ask a lighter question, noting that he'll uncover more if he's not coming from a place of judgment.

"I try my best not to think about it" she admits, "it's too painful, especially when your around and I know I can't breakdown as much as I want to, which is so completely selfish again... Archie I don't resent you, I resent myself, for handling everything so poorly, for lying to you for so long, and to your face at the party, and I'm so sorry for everything that came afterwards" she looks down again, taking a long breathe before reaching her hand out to his, she lightly holds it, feeling him hesitate but nonetheless tighten the grip indicating that he was there for her.

"It's ok" he says it, neither of them believing it, it comes out cold and Veronica is taken aback by his tone and the actual statement.

"How can you say that? How can you continuously forgive me after I keep doing all the horrible things to you, be mad at me Archie, I need you to let me in too, I know you've been holding back a lot of anger" Veronica pleads desperately, she wants him to validate her feelings of self hatred because she felt too guilty to accept any understanding or compassion, so undeservingly.

"What do you want me to do? Yell at you, make you cry, insult you, say things that we'll both regret?" he says to her in disbelief, "that makes me feel even worse, I will never forgive myself for what I said to you at the party..." Archie admits, and suddenly Veronica is left in disbelief.

"It's ok" she reciprocated his earlier statement.

"No it's not, and I'm sorry, I made everything so much worse, if I hadn't been a drunk asshole, you wouldn't have done any coke at the party, or slept with Reggie, and we definitely wouldn't be this broken right now" He says trying to ease his guilt.

Veronica hangs her head down and shakes it, "It's not your fault Archie, If I had been honest, after countless opportunities you had given me to be open with you, then things would not have escalated this far" Veronica admits, "It's my fault" she concludes looking up at Archie.

He surprises her by taking her hands, and looking at her sad eyes, "you weren't suppose to go through this alone" he says quietly and sincerely, "and I was being selfish, not thinking twice about any consequences whenever we had sex... I relied solely on you for protection, I never even asked if you wanted me to finish inside of you" Archie confesses his foul play in the situation, and Veronica is taken aback by his maturity, and willingness to share the blame, but it also triples her guilt; having a beyond understanding and loving boyfriend when she was a rotten person.

"Archie, you're my boyfriend, of course I wanted you to, I don't want you to feel like you have to ask, I want to be in the moment; present with you, I'm not mad that you don't ask anymore, we're comfortable, and passionate, I wouldn't change that. So please stop blaming yourself for this, because I don't blame you" Veronica has finally mustered up some confidence, their conversation feels more equal and honest now, not like she's a guilty child being interrogated by a disappointed parent.

Hearing her refer to him as her boyfriend out loud makes Archie feel better, although they were far from solid, she wasn't giving up yet, and neither was he.

"Ronnie, did it hurt, you know..when we...after the.." his words coming out staggered, and the uncertainty of his phrasing causes him to stop, and clarify, proving to her that he wouldn't be a scared little boy, but an honest and caring man; "after the abortion, did I hurt you when we had sex?" he asks again, although Veronica understood what he had been trying to say the first time.

"I think it hurt only because I was nervous, and tense, but it didn't hurt like the procedure" she admits.

"I'm sorry... and I'm sorry for being a selfish asshole who kept trying to get into your pants, when you so clearly weren't feeling up to it" Archie says with guilt as he recalls back to them laying on his bed after school nearing the end of the month.

Veronica had since divulged to him that the procedure was done on October 24th.

_At the time of his incessant horniness, only one week had passed since her abortion, and the doctor still hadn't cleared her for any sexual activity._ _Veronica still felt discomfort, and occasional spotting and cramps._

_The last thing she wanted was Archie's hands any near her fragile body._

_She had been laying on his bed, doing her english readings for their up coming essay, Archie was at his desk trying to concentrate on his essay as well._

_But he couldn't stop staring at his girlfriend's body laying on her stomach, moving her legs slowly in the air behind her._

_She had skipped cheer practice today, and he could only imagine it was because of something Cheryl had said or done._

_Archie was too distracted by her skirt riding up her thighs to ask questions about the inner workings of the complicated friendship Veronica had with Cheryl, not when he was this horny. It had been several days since they had done it, and Archie was growing more and more impatient._

_So he decided to give up on Hamlet, and made his way over to his girlfriend._

_Taking her book away from her, then jumping over her petite frame to get on to his side of the bed._

_Granted it was his bed, but Veronica had made it a habit to sleep closest to the window, and Archie happily remained closer to the wall._

_The bed shook and Archie laughed, not catching the annoyed look on Veronica's face._

_He rolled onto his side, and wrapped his arms around her, trying to pull her in closer to him, but she resisted. "Arch, stop, I'm trying to finish this" she says barely even glancing at him, and reaching for the book he discarded onto his bed side table._

_"Great, you've lost my page" she says clearly annoyed, Archie just rolls onto his back sighing dramatically. "We haven't fucked in 6 days Ronnie" he groans out._

_Veronica was at a loss for how to handle the situation, she couldn't blurt out 'I can't have sex with you because I just got an abortion', so she tried to smooth things over, "Archiekins, I'm just not in the mood okay?" she replies to his outburst._

_"What's wrong? Did I do something?" Archie asks, scared that he had pissed her off without even realizing it._

_"_ _No you didn't" she finally looks over to him and plants a kiss on his cheek, "I'm just preoccupied with school stress lately"._

_"Well I could help you relieve some of that stress" Archie says smirking at her, then reaching out for her body again, this time she tenses up immediately, flinching at his strong grip. Her recoil doesn't go unnoticed to Archie, he just stays there confused by his girlfriend._

_"Ronnie, come on I know something else is up" Archie insists. Veronica's eyes light up, as she comes up with the perfect lie, cursing herself for not thinking of it sooner, "babe, I'm on my period okay?" she speaks confidently, selling the lie, but Archie only looks half-convinced._

_He leans into her "you know I don't mind, we can use the shower"._

_Veronica sighs, he's not letting go this time, and she feels especially guilty._

_She's aware that she's been a little colder and non-responsive to his touch since her abortion, and she's aware that Archie's worried that she's disinterested in him._

_Normally they said sex constantly, it was their way of connecting, this week they had both felt very disconnected._

_"I don't want to shower" she says, but then instantly regrets shutting him down so abruptly when she notices the smile fall right off of his face._

_Veronica immediately wants to fix it, so she moves over to him, carefully straddling him as he laid on his back._

_Archie smiles into the kiss she's giving him, and his hands trail down her body. Veronica tenses up as he moves his hands near her thighs, she grabs them, pulling them over his head placing them onto the bed, "No hands" she says in a sultry voice, then starts to trail kisses down his jawline and neck._

_Veronica hears him let out a quiet moan as she sucks the skin on his neck, biting it teasingly, definitely leaving a hickey behind._

_Then she makes her way down his chest, teasing his nipples with her tongue, tracing his abs with her fingers._

_Archie's abdomen contracts at her fingers on his sensitive ticklish lower stomach._

_She scoots down, settling in a kneeling position between his legs on the bed, slightly bending down to undo his pants, Veronica gently pulls his pants down freeing his boner and boxers._

_She firmly stokes his hard dick through the material of his underwear, while pressing ticklish kissing near the border of his boxers._

_"Mmm Babe" he groans out, looking at his insanely hot girlfriend about to give him head was driving him wild._

_Suddenly the door bursts open and they hear the sound of a throat being cleared, Veronica quickly sits up. Both of their faces turning bright red, as they scramble off of the bed. Archie pulls his shirt on while Veronica just straightens out her skirt._

_"Sorry, Mom" Archie breathes out still overwhelmed by his throbbing erection._

_Veronica offers a quick apology too._

_Mary Andrews stands there disapprovingly, she hadn't accepted Veronica the way Fred had, and every one of her visits had caused tension in their relationship._

_Archie's mom viewed Veronica as too risqué and troubled for her golden son, not to mention the prejudices she held against Veronica for her parents doings._

_"Why don't you two finish your homework downstairs?" she offers, looking at Archie sternly once more before retreating down the stairs and into the kitchen._

_Archie let out an overly dramatic groan, knowing that he wasn't going to be getting any tonight._

_Veronica on the other hand, was thankful for Mary's interruption._

_Not that would have minded giving Archie a blowjob, but she definitely wasn't in the mood for any kind of intimacy, especially when she was keeping such a huge secret from him._


	15. Fight for Me

Archie jerks wake suddenly when he hears Hermione's voice, looking around he remembers falling asleep with Ronnie after talking for hours.

Veronica had asked him to stay over, not knowing whether or not she'd be leaving for awhile.

"Morning Archie" Hermione says offering a sweet smile, but he can see the worry and sadness in Ms. Lodge's face.

Archie fears the worst, knowing that Veronica was most likely going to end up at some fancy rehabilitation center, and he'd be stuck in Riverdale, wondering about her every second.

"Morning" he says, glancing at his sleeping girlfriend.

"There's some breakfast in the kitchen... do you mind if I talk to her in private?" Hermione says politely.

"Of course" Archie nods, as Ms. Lodge retreats, he hops out of bed putting his jeans on, and walking her to Ronnie's side.

He nudges her slowly, looking intensely at her tear stained face, and dark swollen under eyes.

Veronica stir awake, groggily speaking "Archie" is if she was confused.

"Hey" he says gently.

She shifts over making space for him to sit next to where she's laying, and Archie instantly sits on her bed.

"Thank you for staying" she says awkwardly, feeling like she had been taking advantage of his love for her lately.

"Ronnie" he starts "you're Mom wanted to talk to you in private, I'm pretty sure it's about..." he trails off.

"Rehab" she finishes his sentence, "I can't say I'm surprised" Veronica says bitterly.     

"It might be for the best" Archie says trying to ease the anger building up inside of her, but cluelessly he makes her even more upset.

Veronica sits up, wanting to beg him to fight for her, to tell her that he'll never give up on her, and won't let anything pull them apart, but she knows she can't.

So she just looks at him sadly.

"I'm just trying to help you" he offers, taking in her sorrowed expression.

"I know" she says defeated.

"I'll be here for you Ronnie" Archie tries to soothe her fears, "What if you change your mind while I'm gone?" she questions quickly, the fear evident in her voice.

"I won't, I can't" he says, pausing to find the right words, "It's you Ronnie, you're it for me... but I need you to decide whether or not you're going to let me all the way in" he pleads. She kisses him, before peering into his eyes "you're it for me too, Archie Andrews" and with that she continues to kiss him.

Archie breaks apart there embrace when she's practically straddling him, "your Mom..." is all he can say out of breath.

"Can wait" Veronica says confidently, resuming her position in her boyfriends lap.

Archie grabs her hips and bring her in closer, feeling a need to connect with her, they hadn't had sex since she had confessed to him about cheating.

He had thought about her constantly, even though he was beyond betrayed and jealous, he still had an itch only Veronica could scratch.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt Veronica tugging his shirt off of him, he lifts his arms granting her better access.

Once his shirt is discarded, he begins to unbutton her silk pyjama top gently, but she carelessly rips them open instead, pressing her bare chest against his.

"I need you...now" she says already pulling down her bottoms and panties, Veronica scoots off of Archie and pulls off her shorts, kicking them off elegantly, then pulling Archie down on top of her.

Archie's pulling his boxers down with one hand matching her intensity as he crawls over her.

Meanwhile Veronica is kissing him, her hands running through his hair.

Once his boner is freed from his underwear, she grabs him without missing a beat and guides him into her already wet opening, and instantly Archie is starting to pump into to her.

They're both moaning, and leaving sloppy kisses all over each other's naked bodies.

It doesn't last long, Archie can already feel that he's ready to cum, so he starts teasing her sensitive clit until her walls contract and he knows her orgasm is approaching. He pushes into her even harder, and faster, barely breathing.

Archie cums just as he feels Veronica loosing control in her body, she's panting heavily from her climax, and her arms and legs are limp.

They stay frozen like that for a minute, because neither of them wanted to face reality.

Archie rolls off of her, but Veronica slides into his body forcing him to spoon her, he doesn't mind.

Archie smells her familiar shampoo, and kisses her neck sweetly.

She remembers how lovey-dovey he gets after sex, a small smile tracing on her lips.

Veronica turns her head to him, and kisses him again, "I love you". 

"I love you too" he replies this time without any hesitation.

"I want to stay with you forever" she admits, tracing her soft finger tips along his muscular body.

"Me too" Archie says smiling at her.

"Do you think we'll ever be able to get past all of this?" she asks honestly.

"I hope so" he says, not giving her much of assurance, but as much as Archie would love to forget this whole nightmare ever happened, he can't.

"Do you trust me?" Veronica questions, knowing that the answer won't be one of her liking, but she had to know where she stood.

Archie just sighs, looking at her, then averting his eyes before saying "I want to say yes...but I don't know, I thought I knew you better than this" he admits sadly.

"You do know me, better than anyone else, I promise...I know that doesn't count for much right now, but I'm trying to earn your trust back Arch" Veronica pleads desperately.

"I know" Archie frowns.

"Please fight for me" she begs, starting to cry, her raw emotions showing clearly on her face.

"I am" he says exhausted.

"Not like you used to" she accuses.

"It's harder now!" Archie yells.

Neither of them know what to say at this point, so they just lay in her bed, further apart then moments ago.

Veronica stares blankly at the ceiling, letting her tears flow down the sides of her face, when she turns over to Archie, she can see that he's holding back tears of his own.


	16. Afraid To Leave You

Veronica wants to believe him, when he says he'll be there, but her guilt is causing her too much anxiety and paranoia about leaving. She can't bare watching her boyfriend cry, again because of her. 

She never thought that Archie Andrews would be breaking down in front of her on almost a daily basis, the past week had been emotionally unbearable.

As Veronica manages to stifle her tears, she brushes them off of her cheeks and turns to Archie.

His eyes still watery even though he managed to choke back the actual tears.

"I'm not going to go" she says to him, seemingly out of the blue.

Archie sighs, he thinks she's being stubborn, "Veronica, you need help" he adds, too exhausted to argue over this again.

"I need you" she says sweetly, but the desperation and fear are evident in her facial expression.

Archie finally turns over to his side, now facing her."I need my girlfriend back" he says sadly, "I don't know how to help you anymore, I thought if I was with you, at least I could protect you, but clearly that's not working! Don't you think I want to be able to fix this?" he pleads with her.

She just nods, slightly hurt by the truth, and his tone.

"I'm sorry" Veronica whispers finally, Archie can't tell if she's conceding or just too broken to argue with him any longer.

"I know, me too" he says, wrapping her in a big hug. Veronica hugs him back, settling into his chest.

"Ronnie, your mom is still waiting" he says as he feels her getting comfortable.

Neither of them want to leave her bed, "She can wait, it's going to be a long conversation anyway" Veronica answers him, but Archie worries that they're on thin ice with Hermione.

She had been letting Archie sleepover frequently since Hiram had moved out, and the three of them had become comfortable. 

But now he felt guilt, like he had let Hermione down.

Archie gets off of the bed quickly "I'm going to shower" he mumbles to her without looking back, striding toward her ensuite and shutting the door behind him.

It was clear to her that he was trying to force her to speak to Hermione, but Veronica wanted to avoid the conversation as much as she could.

She begrudgingly rolls off her bed as well, picking out something to wear, not really caring about her appearance in the moment.

After she's dressed, she enters the bathroom "I'm just brushing my teeth" she calls out to Archie.

Any other day he would have tempted her to join him, but now all he wanted was to know what Hermione's solution would be. 

And where their relationship would stand. 

Veronica was in and out of her bathroom faster than he could come up with the right words. Archie wanted to give her an affirmation, that he wouldn't let go, and that she could trust him while she's gone. 

These thoughts brought him to wonder if he could trust her after all.

Archie assumed that she'd be sent to an all girls rehabilitation center like the one before, he felt relieved that he wouldn't have to worry about other guys, hopefully. 

He lets the hot water run all over his body for awhile, deep in thought.

He looks at all of her bottles of various showering and hair products and frowns instantly, realizing that he won't be able to smell her if she left, or feel her breathing, or wrap himself around her. 

Archie felt purposeless without her around, he had become so dependent on her to feel good about himself, that now even the thought of not having her by his side was making him insecure.

His thoughts became increasingly negative, about himself, about her, and once again getting caught on what had happened between her and Reggie, she had told him everything he had asked.

But Archie's mind still swirled with questions and vivid dreams about his girlfriend having sex with his friend. 

The realization that he needed to finally ask about the details makes him feel sick.

He continues his shower, taking his time, not wanting to confront the situation between Hermione and Veronica, he imagines it'll be quite the blood bath. 

Things had been going a little too smoothly lately, and Archie feared that Veronica ruined the truce Hermione was agreeing too.

He felt a certain sadness, that Veronica always questioned trusting either of her parents, she had only herself to guide her morals for the majority of her life, and now her relationship with her mother was finally nearing normal and supportive. 


	17. Tear It Up

_*Veronica has been away at a rehabilitation center for a month. Story continues after her first week back in Riverdale. Things are uncomfortable between Varchie*_

"You taste like beer and weed" she says, scrunching her face up as he leans in to kiss her again.

"Mhmm" he says, his wows are red and squinty, and his mouth is in a permanent smile.

Archie was having the best time at Cheryl's first barbecue of the spring, him and the boys had been riled up all afternoon, playing many games of beer pong, while enjoying several joints that Reggie, Moose and Chuck had brought.

Archie was most definitely high, and feeling a happy buzz from the beer he had consumed. 

The past month had been lonely without Veronica, but after he got past his differences with Reggie, Archie started spending a lot of time with his teammates.

Which had proven to be a great distraction.

He was at his peak physical performance, and felt a great relief of aggression through intense training.

In Veronica's absence, Archie tried to stay as busy as possible, because any reminder of her was too painful.

He had an insanely hard time sleeping in the first week after she left, but eventually his brain grew as exhausted as his body.

Afterwards he trained every night, to the point of exhaustion so that he could just take a shower and collapse in his bed, falling into a dreamless sleep.

His morning runs proved difficult, Veronica filled his thoughts, he wondered about her, how she was doing there and whether or not she missed him as much as he missed her.

Veronica wanted to be mad at him, she was annoyed that while she had vowed to remain sober, he was partying more than ever.

She missed her supportive boyfriend, the Archie she had left a little over a month ago.

She had to admit things had been different between them since her return, and even though a week in they've settled into old routines, Archie's heart seems more guarded.

Veronica can't help but be hurt by the fact that he wasn't opening up to her lately.

She couldn't blame him, but Veronica wondered if he missed her half as much as she missed him.

Rehab was isolating, and while she made significant strides in helping herself, through a lot of therapy, she had come back ready to let Archie all the way in.

Unfortunately her boyfriend had turned into a brick wall in her absence.

She swallowed hard, and attempted to bury her thoughts, reminded herself that it would take time for him to trust her again sadly.

"Let's eat something!" she exclaimed trying to entice her drunk boyfriend to soak up some alcohol with burgers.

"I'm tanked" he admits suddenly feeling everything hitting him at once on an empty stomach, Archie wobbles and sits down on the garden chairs in Cheryl's massive yard. 

"Babe you don't look good" Veronica says as she gently pushes his hair off of his now sweaty forehead.   

"I'm fine Ronnie, just need a minute" he lies to her, and himself. 

"Ok...don't get up, I'm going to bring you some food and water, it'll help" she says looking at him for his approval, "you're the best" he says smiling at her drunkenly. 

Veronica kisses him on the cheek despite his sweaty, unshaven appearance and makes her way toward the patio where Kevin, Betty and Jug were making various barbecue foods.

Veronica smiled to herself thinking about how familiar Archie can feel just based on the fact that she knows exactly how he would prepare his burger, and he knows exactly how she likes hers as well. After countless days spent at pops, numerous Andrew's barbecues, and town fundraiser's; Veronica was confident in delivering an Archie-grade burger to him.

Veronica started listing off orders to Kevin who was currently flipping patties on the massive and expensive looking grill. Jughead and Betty just laughed, finding it funny seeing Veronica try so hard for someone, who wasn't herself.

Meanwhile Archie started to feel even dizzier the chair and there was a bubbling in his stomach that was causing him a lot of nausea. 

But he was too high to realize that he needed to get to a bathroom, Archie naively thought that this feeling would pass, until suddenly he feels hot liquid in his throat, and he is projectile vomiting all over the ground, and his shoes.

He continues to gag between gasps for air, then vomits over and over again emptying out the entire content of beer and this morning's waffles on the tile-stone are in Cheryl's backyard. 

Before he can even look up he senses may presences around him, he feels a comforting hand rubbing his back and extending a glass of water in front of his hands, and he knows its her. Archie feels instantly better after letting it out, but still weak and dizzy. The cold water feels so refreshing as he drinks he carefully, knowing that chugging it would induce more puking. 

"How are you feeling?" Veronica whispers into his ear, sitting on the arm of the chair, still rubbing circles on his back. "Sooo much better now..., just covered in puke" he chuckles.

"Can you stand? Let's go to the bathroom" she says looking at him worriedly, "Yeah" Archie says feeling a lot better, he slowly gets up from the chair, dodge the puddle of vomit between his legs. "Tell Cheryl, I clean that up" he adds looking at his surrounding friends. 

Betty and Jug looked as worried as Veronica, while Kevin added "Don't worry about it Arch, she has staff for that" trying to lighten the mood.

Veronica led Archie toward the bathroom, not managing to escape Reggie, Moose, Chuck and the rest of the bulldogs. 

They were jokingly hazing Archie. "Weak, man" Moose called out, as he rubbed his own stomach flexing, Chuck just laughed. 

"Puke and rally Andrews" Reggie called out, and a shiver ran threw Veronica's body. After a week at school she was well aware of Archie's truce with Reggie, but she couldn't help but feel guilt every time she saw them interact.

Once they made it into the bathroom, Archie immediately removed his shoes, socks and jeans, that had puke splashed back onto them, he looked down at the pile of his discarded clothing avoiding Veronica's gaze. His mind drifted to the last time they were in this situation, she had just confessed to cheating on him, and then the entire content of his stomach had emptied onto the floor in front of him before he could react.

And here she was again, helping him, taking care of him. Veronica looked at Archie with a sad expression on her face, knowing the memory this was triggering. He started washing his face and mouth in the sink, the cold water feeling amazing on his sweaty face.

Rinsing the after taste of vomit felt good too.

Archie was satisfied, still too high and drunk to realize the party was over for him and that he should sleep it off.

"Aren't you going to shower?" Ronnie asked, a little disgusted, but mostly worried by how faded Archie seemed to be.

"Nah, I'll shower later, I just need some pants" he said."Arch, I think we should go home" Veronica tried, knowing that there was no reasoning with a drunk Archie.

"Ronnie, I feel fine now, I swear" he says hoping that will convince her into letting them both stay.

"Archie... you're wasted" she says harshly.He feels attacked, and angered by her sudden hypocrisy, "you've been so much worse" he spits out.

"Excuse me?" she says trying her best not to start a fight while Archie was drunk.

But a part of her felt like he wasn't holding back anymore in his intoxicated state, like he had been since she had returned.

"Just because you've been sober for all of a month doesn't erase the fact that I've been there countless times taking care of you when you've been way more out of control then this!" he speaks with frustration.

Veronica looked at her boyfriend with a pained expression, trying to hold back tears.

She knew it was true, but she never expected Archie to hold that against her now that she was trying to improve.

Veronica walked out of the bathroom, shutting the door carefully as Archie tried to call out her name and mumble something.

"Ronnie...Wait...I'm sorry" he tries, but not hard enough, she's gone, and Archie's left in his boxers and t-shirt feeling ashamed of himself.

She left the party, but he stayed.

After finding a change of clothes thanks to Kevin, and eating two burgers Archie was feeling much better and his guilt for what he had said to Veronica was dissipating with every sip of alcohol.

"Where's your girlfriend" Moose asked as Archie wondered into the boys game of beer pong.

"She left, she's pissed" he said, not wanting to confront any feelings he had. Moose could sense that Archie didn't want to go any further in this conversation, and being a good friend he patted him on the back and said "I need a new partner, Reggie left me for Josie" he admits.

Archie mouth tensed up a little at Reggie's name coming out of Moose's mouth, he had convinced himself that he had gotten passed what happened between him and Veronica, but there he stood completely gutted by the thought of them, again. Archie pushed back the resentment, reminding himself that Moose didn't know, and neither did any of his teammates, and he wanted to keep it like that.

"Sure man!" Archie faked enthusiasm, and joined the game.It successfully took his mind off of Veronica, as he proceeded to drink more and more.

Archie doesn't recall leaving Cheryl's several hours later but he finds himself at the Pembrooke, too drunk to re-assess his next actions.

He goes upstairs and start pounding on Veronica's door, not even thinking about the disruption he was causing the other tenants in the building.The door swings open revealing his girlfriend wearing a confused expression.

"Archie" Veronica breathes out, knowing from the look on his face that he was plastered and there was no point in trying to reason with him.

"Ronnie" he responds happily, pulling her into a sloppy hug before trying to kiss her.Veronica moved her face from his as he approached, smelling the alcohol on him.

"You're so drunk" she states.

"Mhmm" Archie muses, "kiss me" he says pulling her face towards his.She gave in, because he was being adorably loving in the moment, and Veronica had craved his approval ever since returning.She knew better than to delude herself that her boyfriend's sudden lighter behaviour toward her would last after he sobered up.Kissing him back, she could feel the intensity with which Archie wanted her.His hands started to roam down her back, grabbing her ass and holding on tightly as he pulled her in towards him.

Veronica eventually broke apart from his embrace when it started becoming heated, knowing that he would be too drunk to get hard at this point. "Ronnie" he whined as he felt her wiggle away from him. 

"Arch, you're too drunk, and my Mother could be home any minute" she exclaims.

"Let's go to your room" Archie replies smirking at her.Again, she concedes knowing it was easier to give in. Initially she thought about sending him home, and if she were stronger she would have. After all he had thrown her old bad habits in her face knowing how hard she was trying to change.

But her heart broke to see him so drunk and vulnerable, and she couldn't resist letting him stay with her, partly for selfish reasons too.

She led him into her room, as Archie tried his best to navigate at her quick pace. Once they entered, she shut the door while Archie sprawled himself onto her bed, kicking off his shoes, and then starting to undo the pants he had borrowed from Kevin."Babe, it's not going to happen" Veronica says gently, treading on light ice around the sensitive topic.

"We can try!" he said, not discouraged by her hinting at his inability to get a boner when he was intoxicated.

As Veronica approached the bed, she noted how opposite this felt, normally she was the one showing up at his house wasted, several times succeeding in seducing him. Most often though, when this would happen, Veronica was more likely to be having a meltdown, rather than feeling horny.

She was thankful that Archie wasn't here to fight or cry anymore, because she wasn't sure she could deal with that. It was too heartbreaking acknowledging the shift in their relationship, and everything that had happened before she had left.

And although all the therapy she was going to was telling her to confront issues head on, communicate better, she couldn't bring herself to shake the already fragile relationship with Archie by bringing up the past.

Archie's hands wrapping around her waist bring her out of her overly analytical thoughts.

"I really want you" he groans into her ear. Starting to trail kisses down her neck and collarbone.She closes her eyes, wondering if Archie ever felt this weird when she was drunkly trying to fuck him while he was fully sober.

"What's wrong" he moves away. She turns to look at him, "I'm sorry, it feels weird knowing you're only being like this because you're drunk!" she admits. 

"What's that suppose to mean?" Archie questions becoming defensive.

"Nothing" she returns sensing that he's easily agitated in this state.Archie lets out a sarcastic sign "I'm just going to go" he says not wanting to go, but not having it in him to deal with their greater problems right now.

"Go ahead" she says coldly adding to the tension

Looking at her now he just wanted to hold her, he was too drunk to keep his walls up, and he knew that's what she had meant earlier. 

"Ronnie wait, I don't want to fight" he says trying to ease the tension, feeling guilty for snapping at her. 

He couldn't help it, staring at her sad beauty, Archie walked over to her and engulfed her in a hug. 

She hugged him back.

They snuggle into Veronica's bed, Archie holding her tight as he drifts off into a drunk slumber.

Meanwhile Veronica's mind is racing, hating the way everything seemed so tense between them. She hated knowing that when Archie woke up from his nap, they'd have to confront everything they had been pretending didn't exist this week.

Archie woke up groggily in Veronica's bed, checking his phone realizing that it was past 7 already.

Veronica's room was getting dark, and very quiet. He looked around for her, but could already sense that he was alone in her room. 


	18. Destroyed.

"We need to talk about our relationship, Archie" she says.

"Are you breaking up with me? Because I showed up here drunk?" he says in disbelief, thinking about everything he had forgiven her for.

"No, I mean we need communicate better, we have to figure out where we're at with each other, it sure doesn't feel like we're on the same page" she sighs.

"I've been here, just like I promised, I forgave you Veronica, what else is there to talk about?" he says knowing he's absolutely wrong, but also not having the energy to ask certain questions and hear certain answers.

It didn't seem like he had a choice because by the look on his girlfriends face, he knew she wouldn't be dropping it so easily. 

"Have you...? ...Forgiven me?" she clears her throat, aware that she sounds scared and small.

She looks at him intensely, while she tries not to think about how much there was to forgive, because her heart was already anxiously beating anticipating his response. 

He wants to tell her he has, but a part of him still feels the betrayal. 

"I think so" he says,

"Archie, please just be honest with me, I'm begging you to let me in" she pleads

"Why should I? When you have never fully let me in?" he barks. 

Veronica remains silent, not knowing what answer to come up with in order to dilute the situation.

"I believed you all this time, and you lied to me about everything, and now I can't just pretend nothing's changed!" his tone getting angrier.

"Oh so now you can't pretend? Then why have to been avoiding talking about our relationship since I've come back?" she accuses.

"I was trying to make it easier for you, so that you wouldn't get overwhelmed, because clearly all I think about is YOU" he's yelling now.

"Oh really? You're so selfless, were you thinking of me while you were getting wasted today?" she says throwing it in his face.

"You're the reason I drink now" he says trying to make her feel guilty, trying to get her back for what she had said.

"Don't you dare blame you're drinking on me, I was sober" she bits back angrily.

"You broke me!" he cries out, having no time to control the tears rushing down his face.

Veronica stares in shock, then tears start welling up in her eyes, she knows it's true, but she never thought Archie Andrews would fault her so much, he had become a stranger to her at this point. Archie's words were harsher, he became less affectionate, the first two days back they had been completely awkward with each other. 

"I'm sorry" she barely manages to get out, and hugs him tightly, "I'm so sorry Archie, I never meant to hurt you" she says honestly. 

"It's ok" he says into her hug, suddenly all the anger had been let out, and now he was hurting and wanted to be comforted by only Veronica, because she felt safest to him.

"I missed you" he continues, "I missed you so much Archiekins" she says closing the gap between their faces and kissing him deeply. 

"Let's not fight anymore" he says into the kiss. 

Veronica just nods, pulling back, "I still think we have a lot to talk through, I'm going to order take-out" she says calling their usual and only chinese take-out restaurant in Riverdale. She places their precise orders without confirming with Archie, because she already knows his exact order.

"I'm starving" he calls out to her as she puts the phone down on her kitchen counter, "40 minutes, we can talk" she says to him smiling at the annoyed expression on his face.

"If we talk? Can we have sex?...after we eat" he suggests with a chuckle, being playful, enjoying the lighter mood. 

"Maybe" she says into his ear, then nibbling on it. She missed just kissing Archie and feeling like everything was right between them, regardless of the outside world, she desperately needed that back. 

She moves away form him slightly on the couch, looking at him seriously again, "we need to talk" she prompts as she exhales, dreading approaching the conversation.

"I know" he offers sympathetically.

"Archie, we can't keep fighting like this, it's exhausting and counterproductive" Veronica spoke softly, afraid to trigger anymore heightened emotion.

"I don't enjoy it either" Archie decides to quip sarcastically despite Veronica's best effort, he felt her blaming him for the recent spats.

"Arch, I'm trying" she whines out, desperate for him to let down his guard. 

He doesn't want to look at her because he knows he'll break.

"Please say something?" Veronica tries to coax a response from her boyfriend who is starring blankly at the floor.

"I don't know what to say Veronica... everything feels different now, you, me, our relationship" he tells her the tone changing from annoyed to saddened.

"What can I do to fix this?" she says mostly rhetorically, knowing that the only answer was time.

"I'm not sure" he answers honestly.

Archie Andrews did not have the answers anymore.His voice was flat and Veronica's heart broke because she knew she would have to confront the question that had been swirling in her mind every since she had returned to Riverdale.

 "Do you still want to be with me" she questions him, looking very vulnerable and weak. She could feel the tears in her eyes forming.

"Of course I do Veronica, I love you" Archie replies, this time without hesitation. He can tell that he's pushed her to her breaking point.

"Then why are you making it so hard?" she asks in disbelief.

"Because it still hurts to look at you, and I guess I got used to pushing away the pain while you were gone..." finally confessing how he really felt, even though he knew how badly it would hurt her.

Veronica's body stiffens at his admission, she can feel the trembling in her stomach, and the heat on her face, as well as the tears rushing down her cheeks.

"Ronnie" Archie attempts to soothe her, failing miserably.


	19. Breaking Point

"Veronica, I'm sorry...Babe please look at me" Archie tries to reach over to her, feeling extremely guilty and heartbroken making her break down like this.

He attempts to put his arm around her, but she pulls away crying even harder.

"I don't want to hurt you anymore" she says through her tears.

"Ronnie, I'm sorry I should not've said that...come here please" Archie wraps his arms around her. 

Veronica buries her face in his shirt, sobbing a little less, allowing him to comfort her.

At this point, she feared they've been hanging onto their relationship by a tiny thread that was about to give out.

"How can you still love me if I'm a constant reminder of hurt?" Veronica asks as she untangles herself from Archie's hug.

"I don't know, all I know is that I'm in love with you Veronica Lodge, even when I tried to fight it, I can't help myself, I think you're the one" He says nonchalantly.

"Arch.." Veronica says but her boyfriend cuts in "I Know, I know, you hate talking about the future and all, but seriously Ronnie..." Archie stares at her to convey that they're lighter mood was over and he had important thoughts to deliver.

 Veronica nods in anticipation, straightening out a little noting his serious shift.

"It hurts because I don't know how to fix any of it, I want to be able to forget it all, I wish SO BADLY that none of this ever happened, it changed everything, but I can't let go of the idea of us in the future one day, happily married, after we've gotten past this mess, I want to get past it so bad, and I've been trying, but it's just always creeping up in the back of my mind, making me doubt everything!" Archie's rant comes to a conclusion, Veronica is half enlightened as to her boyfriends worries, but mostly, she's confused about the main things that worry him, so she 

decided to press on for more info.

She had learned techniques for proper communication, and was keen on proving to Archie that she was understanding him, and could somehow help him through this.

"Arch, what specifically is making you doubt us? I know you don't want to upset me, but I have to hear the truth from you" She says.

"Ronnie, there's so much, I don't feel up for this conversation right now, our food will be here soon (he hopes)", looking down at his phone, realizing that almost 40 minutes had passed. He was exhausted and starving, and couldn't handle Veronica's interrogation right now.

"I've spent the last month and a half worrying about if this was the breaking point, and honestly Archie, at some point the pain was so bad that I wished you would just dump me so that I wouldn't be living in a constant state of guilt, but then I realized how selfish I was being..." she trails off.

"You're not selfish, I'm sorry I ever called you selfish, you're the most generous person I know" he scoots closer to her on the couch, face her intensely waiting for her to continue.

"But now I know I want this, you and I, and I know we'll have to work on it, so I was think that maybe we could see a therapist together?" Veronica finishing her sentence to shock in Archie's expression.

"Ronnie, I really don't think that's for me, I can't just talk to strangers" he says.

"Well you can't seem to talk to me either Archie, so I don't see where this goes from here? What we just let the tension swallow us? or tear us apart eventually?" Veronica says becoming more angry with how quickly he shot down the best solution to their issues.

"I mean what do you expect is going to happen if we go on like this?" She yells.

Archie looks at her with astonishment, not realizing that this had been something she wanted badly, for them. Before he could give in and say anything to her, the door bell rang, "I'll get it" Archie practically leapt out of the room full of tension.He quickly grabbed the food and thanked the delivery man before returning to Ronnie.

"So you wanna eat here or in the kitchen?" he says holding up the plastic bag full of take out containers.

"Are we seriously not going to talk about this Archie?" she says clearly a little upset with his dismissal.

"Ronnie..." he whines, an unattractive quality on him, "I'll go, whatever you want, I'm starving let's eat" he says walking toward the kitchen counter and opening up the boxes.

Archie noticed that Veronica ordered him extra of his favourites, and specified the mild instead of spicy sauce that he couldn't handle. Instantly he felt guilty, for being such a stubborn asshole, when all she was trying to do was fix them. He walks over to his girlfriend, who's still upset on the couch.

"I'm sorry" he says, reaching his hands out to pull her up, "I'm hungry and I'm an asshole" he smiles at her face softening, "I know you're right about the therapy, and as much as I would like to fight it, I think maybe we'd get further in if we had a mediator?" He smirks at her.

Veronica laughs as she reaches up to his face to kiss him, "Thank you" she whispers into his mouth as they continue to kiss.

Veronica is happy that he's coming around to the idea, and more so that he's showing significant intent of fixing their relationship too.

She feel less alone suddenly.

There's finally been somewhat of a break through in their status she thinks, as she makes her plate and sits next to Archie on the high stools in the kitchen.

Archie shovels food into his mouth as if he hasn't eaten in days, and originally Veronica found this habit quite annoying and impolite, but now that she's gotten to know his body, she finds it endearing and understands why he's so ready to eat all the time.


	20. Sessions

Archie sat there nervously tapping his foot as he scanned the waiting room for the fifth time avoiding making eye contact with Veronica, because he could see she was nervous as well.

 

Veronica gently reached over and placed her hand on Archie's leg, stopping his incessant jittering.

 

Her head was already spinning a mile a minute, thinking about all of their issues the therapist would make them confront. Having been through intensive therapy during her stay at rehab, she already had to confront her demons. But this was different. Archie was here now, and she was not ready to speak as freely about her mistakes in front of him.

 

Then she thought deeper, and realized that the brunt of their issues were brought on by her, she felt even more nervous and less ready to go in just as a petite brown haired, mid-40s woman, impeccably dressed walked out and called out her name "Miss. Lodge".

Veronica stood up and led Archie into the her office, watching their therapist carefully shut the door before introducing herself.

 

"Hi, I'm Dr. Wasser, you guys can call me Laura if you prefer" she said elegantly.

 

"Hi, Dr. Wasser, I'm Veronica" she followed up with her introduction, "and this is my boyfriend Archie".

 

"Hi there, Archie Andrews" he tried to be as polite and mature as possible, watching his girlfriend's expert like facade when greeting new people.

 

"Nice to meet you both, why don't we have a seat on the couches?" Dr. Wasser said as she motioned towards the neutrally decorate seating area in her massive office.

 

Archie and Veronica took their seats on the couch across from the single chair their therapist sat in.

 

"Ok, so I'd love to hear from you both, on what your current issues are, and then together we'll work on communicating through these problems" Dr. Wasser spoke.

 

Archie looked at Veronica, he was silently telling her to take the lead, something that she had been dreading to do.

 

"I guess we have trust issues" Veronica says meekly, "and our relationship just hasn't been the same in awhile because of a lot of things I've done" she admits.

 

"Why do you say 'you've done'? What kinds of things have happened to cause these trust issues?" she asks Veronica, but Veronica doesn't know how to answer, she just looks down at her lap in shame muttering "we've been through a lot lately".

 

"Archie, why don't you explain how you view your relationship currently" Dr Wasser asks, switching it up, hoping to let them open up by not probing to hard.

 

"It's been tense recently, we've been fighting a lot" he says uncomfortably.

 

"What do you two think the root of this tension is? Veronica, you mentioned trust issues before" the doctor questioned them.

 

"Uh" Veronica doesn't even know where to start.

 

"How about we start from the beginning? Was there something specific that caused these issues?" Dr. Wasser asked, not expecting the answer Veronica was about to give.

 

"I got an abortion without telling him" Veronica says.

 

"She was never planning on telling me" Archie cut in, shocking himself by his will to get his side across.

 

"How did you feel when you found out Archie" she asks.

 

"I was devasted, and shocked, and I reacted so poorly, but you have to understand the circumstances..." he fades out as he feels Veronica's hand on his knee.

 

"My friend told him at a party, and the circumstances were not ideal" Veronica added to clue in their therapist.

 

"When you say you were devastated Archie, can you explain that further?" Dr. Wasser probes

Archie shifts uncomfortably "I didn't want to believe that she would lie to me for months about it, this was something we were suppose to go through together, I still can't fully understand how she could keep this from me" he concludes with a sigh.

"Were you at all upset that you had no choice in the matter?" Dr. Wasser asks him.

 

"A little, I mean I would have agreed with Ronnie no matter what, I just feel like she doesn't think I can handle this kind of stuff" he says looking at Veronica as he finishing his thought, noticing her shame in the way she's positioned, and the redness in her face.

 

He feels bad for her, in this moment he doesn't need anyone else reminding him of the reasons he shouldn't be with her, all he wants is to feel normal again, and hold his girlfriend without thinking of possible things she'd be capable of. 

 

He often wondered if Veronica would cheat on him again, he knew that she assured him this was different, but what was going to happen the next time they have a huge argument. Is he going to have to wonder about her sobriety forever as well? That seemed like a new burden that had been making him walk on eggshells around her, or at least try to, which caused him resentment. The fought non-stop these passing days and Archie remained nervous that she'd snap again, turn to alcohol, drugs, or break up with him and date Reggie. He knew those thoughts were off base but Archie couldn't help himself, it was getting exhausting, and his ability to fight for this relationship was wearing thin. But he couldn't bare the thought of letting go either. Was this there new normal, being consumed in regret? He honestly couldn't see past this, and talking about it didn't seem helpful to Archie.

"Veronica, why don't you tell about having to go through that experience, and we'll discuss a way to compromise and get past this, as long as you two are willing to work on it" the doctor says optimistically, unaware of the chaos that ensued post abortion reveal.

 

"It was the worst timing possible, Archie was training intensely for a football scholarship, he had to raise his grades, there was just so much going on that when I found out I was pregnant, I knew I couldn't burden him with this on top of everything else" she admits.

 

"Veronica, this was a heavy burden for you to deal with alone, and in a healthy relationship you should feel comfortable sharing even the difficult decisions, aside from the timing, was there anything else holding you back from telling Archie" Dr. Wasser asked her.

 

"I didn't want a baby, and I didn't want to think or talk about it, and let it hang over our relationship... and I was afraid Archie was going to think I was being cold, but it was so much to process that the only thing that kept me sane was knowing that I could pretend it never happened afterwards" Veronica says desperately trying to convince herself she wasn't a bad person, fearing what Doctor Wasser thought of her at this point. Not having even gotten into her momentary stay in rehab, and the fact that she cheated on her boyfriend in a drug and alcohol induced state.

 

Archie stared at Veronica and listened intently, feeling incredibly sad for her having to deal with this, and worse when he realized she was afraid to tell him.

 

"Veronica I want you to know that there is nothing wrong with you deciding to get an abortion, and not wanting to talk about it is your choice as well, but from where I'm sitting, I can see that your fear of opening up has deeply effected this relationship, and it will never be healthy as long as your afraid to be honest, so we're going to try an exercise to help you both open up, ok?" the doctor said, hitting the nail on the head with Veronica's issues. She was kind in her delivery, Veronica could tell Dr. Wasser was really trying to help her get past this, and although it felt heavily uncomfortable to be in a therapist's office with her boyfriend listening to every word she said, she promised herself that this would help them, potentially even fix things, if that was even possible.

 

"Okay" Veronica said meekly, while Archie just nodded.

 

"This may sound silly and mundane at first, but if you both just try to be as honest as possible, we'll be able to start creating a truthful foundation for your relationship" she said with optimism, trying to coax the young couple out of their shells.

 

Dr. Wasser was aware that they were discussing topics too heavy for her to earn Veronica's trust. She was although surprised by Archie's ability to talk about his feelings, opposite to Veronica, Archie's issues seemed more hidden, she hadn't quite assessed him yet, but she's keen on finding out why Veronica can't seem to be honest with her faults around her boyfriend, that she seems particularly comfortable around.

 

"I want you both to face each other" she starts, watching Archie turning to Veronica and looking at his girlfriend hopefully.

 

Veronica turns her body to face Archie and offers him a nervous smile, he can sense her apprehension, probably because she's seen many therapists before and is aware of how hard it is to have someone point out your issues. 

He can remember her talking about how therapists could always call her bluff, and that she left half her sessions in tears because every time she would make a new realization about how hard it get past her insecurities. They had many moments over the span of 2 years where Veronica had been happy to open up, she was also the one to always make sure he was able to open up to her. So Archie wondered what he had been doing wrong? How could she go back and forth with him after so long? These thoughts swirled in his head as he looked at Veronica's tired expression. 

"I want you both to tell each other one thing that you've never told anyone before, and I can be as simple and harmless as you want, perhaps an old secret that no longer has an effect on you" Dr. Wasser says looking at them, "Archie why don't you start" she looks to him, hoping to learn more about the boy.

 

"Um, this is embarrassing, but I was afraid of the dark for a long time, until I was like 10 or 11, and I'd still leave my lamp on at night" he admits bashfully, hoping to appease the therapist.

 

Archie no longer cared about this fear, having much bigger and more frightening things to deal with.

 

"Archie" Veronica said reaching her hand out to his face "I want to hug you" she whispers to him quietly, before clearing her throat and getting ready to divulge a secret of her own.

 

"Mines definitely more embarrassing Archiekins" Veronica said already feeling more comfortable, "In middle school I used to stuff my bra with these fake cutlets because I had no boobs whatsoever, now I find it so ridiculous that I ever cared that much" she says smiling at Archie's smirk.

 

"You definitely don't need to stuff them anymore" he says teasing her, Veronica playful pushes his face away from hers as she turns bright red.

 

"Let's try opening up about little white lies you tell each other?" the doctor suggests, and they both look incredibly guilty.

 

"Veronica, why don't you start this time?" Dr. Wasser attempts to ease the tension.

 

"I lied to you about the dry cleaner loosing your blue button up... I spilt red wine on it and couldn't get the stain out, so when you said you needed it back for the formal, I didn't want to admit I ruined it, so I blamed it on the dry cleaning service" she says meekly, knowing that he wouldn't be that mad, Veronica questioned herself in this moment why she had even lied to him in the first place. 

This is exactly what Dr. Wasser wanted them to figure out, that there was no need to cover up the truth, even when the outcome would be disastrous.

Archie chuckled "It's ok Ronnie, I forgive you... I like the shirt you bought me more anyways" he says and Veronica's heart melts at how loving and forgiving he could be, she wanted to kiss him but held back because they were in an office seated in the direct view of a couples therapist.

 

"You're the best, you know that?" she says nonchalantly, admiring him, thinking about how Archie had always tried to be the best boyfriend to her that he could.

 

"You're not going to think that after I tell you what I lied about" he says still in a jokey tone.

 

"What is it?" she tries to look serious but bursts out laughing instead, Archie following her in laughter.

 

Through his chuckles he manages to tell her that he once, early into them dating, he threw out an old necklace Nick had given her when they had dated in New York because it bothered him so much that she had still kept it, even if she had barely spoken to him since moving to Riverdale.

 

"Honestly, I didn't even know I still had that thing or notice that it was gone, but it probably cost a fortune Archiekins, you should have sold it!" she said smirking at him, finding his jealousy endearing. 

Veronica was happy to remind herself of times when Archie and her had first started dating and he was constantly needing to be reassured, because he was the jealous type after all.

Veronica craved him to be possessive again, or at least more passionate toward her. Nowadays he seemed barely there, even when it was just the two of them. Today was starting to feel like progress.

 

"It was worth it, being able to stomp on it and whip it into gutter" he said.

 

"Archie why didn't you ever tell me that Nick bothered you so much?" Veronica asked in shock.

 

"How can I like I guy who treated you like shit, played on your insecurities and coaxed you to party way too hard?" he spits out.

 

"Nick didn't influence me to do anything Archie!" she says standing her ground.

 

"Why can't you just admit that he wasn't a good guy?" Archie says jealously.

 

"He may have not been a good guy, but I want to believe that my first love wasn't with some piece of shit ok?" Veronica becomes vulnerable.

 

"Your first love" Archie questions.

 

"Have I ever held anything with Grundy against you?" Veronica fires back.

 

Archie sits there dumbfound, "she was your first love, wasn't she?" she continues.

 

"Uh, that's completely different" Archie stutters.

 

"How?" Veronica asks annoyed with him.

 

"Because I never loved her the way I love you" he says apologetically.

 

"Oh Arch.." Veronica feels a pang in her heart for hurting him by accidentally admitting that Nick was her first love.

 

"I love you so much more than I ever thought it was capable of loving someone, Nick was puppy love, I was more into the idea of having a boyfriend then, you are so much more than that, I love you more than I have ever loved Nick" Veronica tries to reassure him.

 

Archie offers her a weak smile, "I know, I just never heard you refer to Nick as someone you loved" he remarks.

 

"That's because it feels like another life time ago, honestly I forgot all about Nick until you reminded me, he's a non-threat Archie" she says, again trying to comfort his worries.

 

"Good, because I hate the guy, if were being honest" he quips

 

"You've never met him" Veronica chuckles.

 

"He just exudes entitlement and douchbaggey" he laughs out as well.

 

"Touché" she admits.

 

"Ok, it seems like we can end on a lighter note then" Dr. Wasser interjects, breaking the eye contact between Archie and Veronica.


	21. Rides

After they got out of their session, Veronica was feeling frisky, watching Archie get jealous was something she never thought she'd wish for, but after feeling like he was icing her out, this felt like a small step toward the old Archie, her boyfriend.

As they got into the car, Veronica stared at her boyfriend lovingly, "thank you Archie, for coming today, I love you so much" she says, hoping that he'd sense her honesty.

 

He looks at her almost in shock, but then smiles, "I love you too Ronnie" he says, giving her a peck on the lips.

 

He felt bad about how much Veronica had been taking responsibility for, especially today during their session.

 

His heart broke because he knew that she still couldn't see herself the way he saw her. To him, Veronica was the most amazing person to have walked the earth, but sadly she never felt good enough, and as the therapist had alluded to, Veronica would continue being deceitful, closed off, and afraid until she could learn to accept his love, and love herself (more importantly).

 

"I'm sorry this is so hard, we don't have to mention Reggie or the pills if you don't want to? We can just focus on us in these sessions?" he offers, hoping to ease her guilt a little.

 

For the first time since she had gotten back two weeks ago, Archie was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

 

He would hate to admit it, but the therapist had helped them significantly.

 

He needed to hear Veronica speaking candidly about her reasonings for hiding the abortion, and what Dr. Wasser said had reminded him that she's been broken and hurting for a lot longer than he has.

 

"Arch... that's a very selfless offer, and I love you for trying to protect me, but we have to get past this somehow?" Veronica says, once again being impressed with her boyfriends ability to care for her.

 

Veronica watches him nod, his heart also breaking at the mention of it, "I know I've said it a million times Archie, but I'm so sorry for lying to you and cheating on you, I don't think I'll ever forgive myself... I can't even comprehend how you can still love me at this point... I need you to know that I will never do anything to ruin us again, I can't live without you" she tells him softly, feeling very vulnerable. 

 

Her tone is honest, but meek because she's still scared to hand over her heart, but the thought of loosing Archie makes her desperate to prove herself to him.

"I still love you because you're incredible" he says trying to calm her down, noticing tears starting to form in her eyes. 

 

There's a small sparkle caused by the water on her lower lid, Archie wipes the forming tear and leans into her "don't cry, you're beautiful" he says as he presses his forehead to hers.

Veronica shuts her eyes hard, letting the tears escape.

 

Her breath tumbles as she tries her best to allow Archie's comfort, but still she feels guilty.

 

"I don't deserve you" she whispers as she holds his face close to hers.

 

"You deserve the world" he says before kissing her hard.

 

She kisses him back with the same sense of urgency. How was she capable of hurting him so badly, she wondered.

 

Archie stopped kissing her when he felt her sobbing in his mouth, "Ronnie" he says slowly leaning his face back and extending an arm around her, "babe, it's going to be ok, we're figuring this out" he tries his best.

 

"I hate myself" is all that she can choke out, "you're so good Archie" she continues, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" she starts sobbing even harder.

 

Archie tried his best to comfort her all the way home, there drive was emotional.

 

He wanted so badly to convince her that she wasn't a bad person, to pull her out of this darkness, but he knew that it was up to her to fight her demons now.

 

Archie glanced at her again, looking at her running tears, recalling another memory that seemed so distant now.

 

_Archie held his girlfriend's hand as they walked towards the field for lunch._

 

_Usually they'd sit with Betty, Jug, Kev, Toni and Cheryl, but today Veronica had wanted it to be just them._

 

_So he found himself sitting in the freshly cut grass, with his stunning girlfriend laying in his lap._

 

_"Archiekens" he looks down at her face that's staring back at him, "let's ditch!" she says eagerly._ _"What?" he chuckles, unsure of if she was serious._

 

_"Yes, let's skip the last two periods and go somewhere!" her adventurous nature had slowly rubbed off on Archie._

 

_"Ok, where to my love?" he says pressing small kisses on her head._

 

_"Maybe the mall?" she suggests, knowing that he'd most likely shut it down, but it was worth the try._

 

_"Ronnie..." he whines out, "we were just there a week ago, and it was brutal" he admits, recalling the six hours he spent being dragged from store to store, waiting outside the dressing room with all of the other sad husbands who had been forced to give up watching Sunday football for their wives._

 

_Although he hated how long the process of 'shopping' took with Veronica, he couldn't help but smile at the idea of him one day being her husband, waiting for her to change into trillions of outfits, while sitting on some expensive but uncomfortable lounge furniture in these high end retailers._

_"What about a movie" he suggests, smirking at her knowing they had almost gone to third base at the Bijou._

 

_"Scary?" she smirks back devilishly._

 

_"But of course" he grins, knowing her too well._

 

_Veronica leaps off of her boyfriend in excitement, then extending her arms to pull him up._

 

_Archie laughs at the notion that his tiny girlfriend could lift his entire weight, so instead he grabs her hands and pulls her back down onto him._

 

_"Archiekins!" she squeals, landing a little roughly on his body._

 

_He hugs her tightly as she lays on top of him, slowly sneaking his hands down to her bum._

 

_"You're so hot, I couldn't help myself" he says in response to the look she was giving him._

 

_"We can't do this now" she whispers in his ear as she removes his hands from her butt and wiggles out of his embrace, as she gets up for the second time._

 

_"Save it for the scary parts" she says referring to their her habit of kissing him or cuddling into his side during the intense scenes of the many horror films they had watched._

 

_Archie usually put on a very brave face for his girlfriend, but on a hand full of occasions, the jumps in the movie had caused him to gasp and make sudden movements, that completely through off his macho vibe._

 

_Veronica loved those precious moments, when he would be vulnerable or scared, because she felt it humanized him._

 

_Archie gets up following Ronnie to her car._

 

_As they get in Archie turns on the radio station, and they both sing along to the top 40 without any embarrassment because at this point Archie and Veronica are beyond comfortable with one and other._

 

_Every chance she gets she glancing at her boyfriend, his chiseled jaw, and baby freckles, the way his hair was so lush, but mostly his smile that made his eyes light up._

 

_He was incredibly good looking, and Veronica found herself thinking back to a year ago, when they we're both smaller and more awkward looking._

 

_She thinks about how much more handsome he's gotten, still maintaining his boyish charm, and it makes her think about what their kids would look like?_

 

_Veronica pulls up at a light, and leans over to Archie placing a glossy kiss on his lips._

 

_"What was that for?" he asks her smirkingly, hoping that she too was feeling frisky._

 

_"Just because I love you, and you're so handsome, and I want to have your babies!" she exclaims, intending it more as a half-hearted statement, alluding to a vague future._

 

_"What?" Archie's face contorts in shock._

 

_"Not now" she says, watching the relief wash over his face, Veronica feels an overwhelming sensation of guilt wash over her._

 

_It had been several months since she had, had the abortion, but still hadn't found a way to tell Archie._

 

_Usually she would bury the thoughts, force herself not to think about it._

 

_And the busier she made herself, the easier it was for her to pretend it never happened._

 

_She had been glued to Archie recently because they've created this bubble of safety, where she can really believe her own lies, because he's clueless, and it's as if the abortion never even happened._

 

_"In that case... I can't wait for you to have my babies" he says leaning over and trying to kiss her but she pulls back._

 

_Archie looks at her a little taken aback, but he quickly notices there's a weird look on her face, and she's suddenly ghostly pale._

 

_"Ronnie" he says patting her on the shoulder as she's driving._

 

_With no warning she pulls over, completely running the curb of the sidewalk in the process and undoing her seatbelt before leaping out of the now semi-parked car._

 

_Archie instantly hops out of his side, and runs over to Veronica._

 

_He sees her behind the trunk, clinging onto the hood as she painfully vomits._

 

_Grabbing her hair and holding her up while she continues to unload the content of her stomach._

 

_"It's going to be ok" he says kissing the back of her neck as she's still bent forward trembling._

 

_"Arch" is all she can say, the guilt of lying to him had finally reached a physical manifestation._

 

_Now every time she thought about it, she felt sick to her stomach._

 

_"Babe, let me grab you my water bottle?" he says while looking at her questioningly to see if she was truly alright._

 

_"Thanks" she mumbles, putting her hair up in a ponytail with her dark red scrunchy._

 

_Seconds later he reappear from the front seat having retrieved his bag, and water._

 

_He hands it to her, and she's so thankful to have him, taking care of her._

 

_They both sit against the curb, Archie rubs circles on her back, as she slowly sips water._

 

_"Do you have any gum?" she says slowly, having talked herself out of divulging any secrets in this moment, or potentially ever._

 

_"I have bubblegum" he offers, knowing that she hated that flavour and would probably reject it._

 

_"Fine" she says weakly, "I guess bubble gum is better than the flavour of vomit" Veronica admits._ _Archie just chuckles, digging it out of his backpack._

 

_He carefully hands her a piece, and grins at the exaggerated faces of disgust she makes._ _"It's that bad, ay?" Archie tries to lift her spirits._

 

_"Yes" she smirks, "would you like to kiss me?" she teases him back._

 

_"I think I'll pass" he says, thinking to himself that Ronnie's the only person he could watch vomit and still find her irresistible afterwards._

 

_"I thought you loved bubblegum" she antagonizes him playfully after letting a huge bubble pop near his face._

 

_They both laugh._

 

_"I love you" he says honestly._

 

_"I love you more" she quickly responds, burying herself into his side._

 

_"Not possible" he whispers sweetly to her, placing kisses on the top of her hair, "let me take you home?" he offers._

 

_"My hero!" she fakes enthusiasm, "give me a few more minutes, I don't want to get car sick again..." she lies to him, feeling guilty all over again._


End file.
